


(I'm Gonna) Light Up The World

by Ukiwakii



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Fix-It, Gen, Other additional characters to be added, Pre-Time Skip, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Stronger Straw Hat Crew
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-14
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:09:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 35,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27562063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ukiwakii/pseuds/Ukiwakii
Summary: When the StrawHats reach Little Garden, they make friends with more than the Giants. An Ancient Zoan that left the Marines decides that this crew is one worth becoming a pirate for, and his presence has more influence than expected.
Comments: 36
Kudos: 107





	1. Arrival At Little Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Straw Hat crew reach Little Garden, and learns about how long it takes for the Log Pose to set. However, not everything is lost.

“There’s no doubt about it. Our next destination is that island !” Exclaimed Nami, watching the needle on the Log Pose point to an island barely visible on the horizon.

Luffy threw his arm in the air before shouting, far too loudly given how close they all were, “Our second island on the Grand Line!”.

The crew was slowly getting closer to the island that Miss All Sunday had named Little Garden, and they could already see that most of it was covered in trees forming a thick jungle, with a huge volcano on the background and a few other smaller volcanoes on the outside. Two huge skulls which put together were easily half the size of the island rested on each side.

“We should be careful.” Started Vivi, “I’m worried about what Miss All Sunday said about this island…” The warning about them not surviving the island was still clear on her mind.

“Y-you don’t think there are monsters here, do you ?” Asked Usopp, his knees shaking slightly in fear, his mind following the same path that Vivi’s.

“We gotta stock up on some food pretty soon, I wasn’t able to restock at all at the last town.” Said Sanji, clearly not at all worrying. “But man, just look at this place… It’s like a land yet to be explored by people. The entire island is a thick jungle.”

“So this is Little Garden…” Whispered Nami, clearly worried. If the second island that they met on the Grand Line looked to be inhabited, it clearly didn’t bode well for them. Her mind conjured various reasons to explain why nobody seemed to be alive here, and none of them were good. “I can’t say I see anything that would deserve such a cute name like that though.” She continued, looking at the jungle surrounding them. The trees were easily thrice as tall as Merry, and were looming over them.

“Just what about this island is _little_ ?” Asked Ussop.

“And look!” Exclaimed Nami while observing the vegetation around them. “I’ve never seen any plants like these even in my encyclopedia !” The plants were all larger than expected and didn’t look like any other type of plant she knew. Suddenly, a loud and strange sound made her flinch, and she instinctively tried to hide. “What was that just now ?” She shouted.

“Terrified Nami is so cute !” Swooned Sanji, before trying to reassure her. “Don’t worry, it’s just a normal bird. And even this island is nothing but your average jungle.” He said confidently, turning around to reassure her and turning his back to the jungle.

Which proved to be a mistake, when a few seconds later a huge creature that looked like a lizard, but with wings, passed just behind him. Nobody had time to react before a loud boom echoed through the jungle, the sound so loud that it made the ship vibrate.

“Does this sound like your average jungle ??” Asked a terrified Nami, while Usopp exclaimed at the same time “That sounded like a volcano exploding or something!”

The island seemed to try to scare them, because they didn’t have the time to say more before a huge tiger appeared on the land just next to the river they were sailing in, before dropping dead.

“I don’t care what anyone says, that’s definitely not normal !” Shouted Nami. 

“Alright, then it’s decided. We are to not set foot on this island.” Said sagely Usopp, nodding his head.

“Let’s just quietly wait on our ship, and leave the very second our log pose finishes recording. After all, we have to hurry on to Alabasta as soon as possible.” Continued Nami.

However, her captain seemed to have a very different idea.

“Sanji, prepare a lunchbox !” He shouted, nearly vibrating with the need to go explore. “This island seems so interesting, I smell adventure ahead.” He said with a huge grin on his face.

Nami tried inefficiently to stop him, before being betrayed by Vivi who asked the Captain if she could go explore with him to which Luffy quickly agreed. Going on an adventure with friends and a lunchbox, he couldn’t think of anything better.

“I know that if I stay on the ship without doing anything, I’ll just keep worrying about Alabasta.” The princess explained after seeing Nami’s betrayed look. “So I may as well go explore and try to think of something else until the log pose is set. I’ll be fine with Luffy and Karoo by my side.” She said with a smile to the shock of said duck who tried to protest, his shouts being covered by the shout of “Vivi !” coming from the kitchen. 

“Then allow me to make a lunchbox of love for you, Vivi-san.” Said Sanji smoothly, getting out of the kitchen just in time to offer his help to a lovely lady in need.

It took him a few minutes to get the food ready, and then Luffy, Karoo and Vivi on his back left the Merry to go explore. Seeing them leave seemed to spark something in Zoro, who quickly decided to go for a walk. It took less than ten seconds between him jumping off the deck and he and Sanji challenging each other to a hunting competition, and both swordsman and cook left the ship insulting each other, to the despair of Nami and Usopp that were left behind.

~~One Piece~~

The cowardly duo fell on the floor next to each other, their back on the railing so they wouldn’t see the scary island. Nami hugged her knees in an effort to reassure herself. “I hate this, and I had a bad presentiment since Miss All Sunday mentioned Little Garden… Wait, now that I think about it, I feel like I’ve heard this name before. Wasn’t it in a book...” She stood up suddenly to go inside the ship, and started searching through her small collection of books for the one she wanted. When she found it, however, she wished she didn’t. _‘To its inhabitants, this island is like a little garden. An island of Giants’_ , stated the book.

“Usopp !” She shouted, coming back outside running.

“Did you find where you’ve heard of it before ?” He asked.

“We’re in trouble ! On this island…” A huge shadow suddenly fell over them, and she stopped talking in shock. Slowly, the both of them turned their head, and came face to face with the most terrifying sight they had ever seen before.

“Do you have any rum ?”

~~One Piece~~

“Hey, check this out!” Shouted excitedly Luffy, before showing what he was holding to Vivi. “There’s a clam that looks like a squid ! A clam-squid !”

Vivi dropped from Karoo’s back to get closer. “This looks like an ammonite if you ask me.” She started. “It’s strange, I didn’t think they were still alive.” She added pensively.

“What do you mean ?” Asked Luffy while poking the now named clam-squid to see if it could go inside its shell. “This one is clearly alive.”

“Hm, well, I think I’ve read somewhere-” Started to say Vivi before stopping abruptly as she saw something moving from the corner of her eyes. Her eyes opened wide in fear when she saw what it was, and Luffy turned around to see what had made her react.

“Ah.” He said calmly. “Why is there a Sea King on land ?” He asked, looking at the animal in front of him. It easily towered over the trees, the only part of its body they could see was its long neck. It had moved to grab a few leaves from one of the biggest trees around, and was leisurely munching on them.

“That’s not a Sea King !” Shouted Vivi as soon as she had recovered from her shock. “It’s a dinosaur !” She dived to hide behind Karoo, the duck standing frozen in fear.

“A dinosaur ?” Repeated Luffy. His habitual huge grin appeared on his face. “I’ve never eaten a dinosaur before.” He muttered, swallowing the small drop of saliva that had appeared at the corner of his mouth at the prospect of eating a creature as big as this one.

“It means that we’re on a prehistoric island.” Despaired Vivi.

“A prehiwhat ?”

“Prehistoric. That island is still stuck in the age of dinosaurs. That’s a particularity of the Grand Line, not every island has access to the same level of technology. This one must have stopped evolving thousands of years ago, and we’re now on an island _full of dinosaurs._ ” She finished her explanation with a cry, and turned toward Luffy to tell him that they must go back to the Merry, only for him to have disappeared from her side.

Before the thought that he must have been eaten could do more than cross her mind, her attention was grabbed back by a shout of “Awesome” coming from the dinosaur direction. To her despair, she could see that Luffy had climbed most of its neck, and was looking around from his vantage point. “I can see almost all of the island from here !” He shouted.

He climbed up the few meters left and sat cross legged at the top of the dinosaur’s head. “Wow, the view is really great.” He marveled. “I should start to eat my lunch here. Oh, I didn’t notice that there were that many volcanoes.” He grabbed his backpack and started to rummage through it, ignoring Vivi’s cry that he should get down and that it was dangerous. As if he hadn’t noticed that the dinosaur he was on was only eating leaves, and not meat. “I would have to beat you up if you started to eat my meat.” He muttered, patting the top of its head. “But we can be friends. I’ll give you all my vegetables.”

He finally found the particular box that he wanted to eat right now, Sanji having packed a few different boxes for him knowing that he would have eaten all in one seating if he hadn’t. Before he could get it out of his backpack, the head he was on suddenly twitched. “Wha-” The dinosaur moved his head back, throwing Luffy into the air. Before he could do more than extend one of his hands and grab his backpack, the dinosaur's teeth closed just above him.

He expanded his other hand, wanting to grab a tooth or something that would stop him from being eaten, when he felt a rush of air below him. His head snapped down, and instead of seeing the darkness of the dinosaur’s gut, he could see the top of the trees. He let himself fall down, surprised by what happened, but instead of falling on the ground, a huge hand appeared below him, stopping him.

“Whoah !” He exclaimed when he saw how big the hand that held him was.

A loud laugh reverberated through the forest around them, before the being holding him started talking. “Aren’t you a lively one ! I haven’t had guests in over a year, and even longer before him.”

Luffy stood up, his eyes following the arm to reach the face of the man that had prevented him from being eaten. “You’re huge !” He shouted. The man was easily towering over the surrounding trees. “Are you a human ?”

“I’m a Giant !” Exclaimed the giant. “I am Elbaf’s strongest warrior, Dorry !” He presented himself with a laugh. “Let me invite you folks to my place.” He continued with a smile.

“A Giant !” Vivi’s cry attracted both of their attention. “This is my first time seeing one. AH ! He spotted me !” She shouted.

~~One Piece~~

Both Nami and Usopp were openly crying, staring at the huge figure that towered above them.

“I asked you.” Repeated the giant, his huge smile not leaving his face. “If you have any rum.”

The voice managed to drag them out of their stupor, and the navigator stuttered, her voice coming out in a wail “W-we have a little.”

“So you do have some !” The giant said happily, crouching to be face to face with the two pirates. He suddenly shouted in pain, scaring the normal-sized humans. The giant looked back in rage, and the three of them could see that a T-Rex had bitten him in the ass. 

“A d-dinosaur…” Wailed Nami, tears of fear dripping down her face. “A giant and a dinosaur…” Usopp sobbed next to her.

The giant violently turned around, and swinging a huge battle axe, promptly decapitated the dinosaur. He grabbed the dinosaur’s fallen head with his free hand, the other rising his axe high above his head.

“I am Elbaf’s strongest warrior, Brogy !” He presented himself with a laugh. “I have some meat to go with your rum.” He said, stopping his posturing to look back at the two small humans. “Let me welcome you as my guest.”

He put his axe back on his hips, grabbed them both with his hand and started to walk back toward his camp. Nami and Usopp could only watch, frozen in fear, as the Merry disappeared behind them, each step from the giant taking them dozens of meters away.

It wasn’t long before he dropped them on a ground in front of a huge log, telling them to sit down while he started a fire. They sat on it and shared a desperate look, Nami clutching Usopp’s arm tightly.

“Did you see…” Hissed Usopp, his eyes darting left and right for a second before fixing themselves resolutely on the fire in front of them.

“Hmm hmm” Nodded Nami dejectedly. It was hard to miss all the skeletons surrounding them.

"There, eat this." Said Brogy, holding out a hunk of meat.

“We’re not hungry” They said in sync. The giant was probably trying to fatten them up before eating them, and they weren’t going to make it easy for him. He didn't insist, and started to eat his own part.

When he started to slow down, almost all the meat gone, Nami felt that he had eaten enough that he wouldn't turn on them instantly. They still needed to escape, but they needed to time it right so when they ran back to the Merry they were able to immediately leave.

"Hmm, Mr Brogy ?" She started, gathering her courage. "How long does it take for the log pose to finish recording ?"

"One year." Answered the giant, his smile not leaving his face even as his eyebrows rose when he saw the dread coming from the two small pirates.

~~One Piece~~

“This is really good, Mr. Giant.” Said Luffy, happily munching on the giant piece of meat that the giant had cooked from them.

“And your pirate lunchbox is pretty good, even if it is small.” Dorry answered just as happily, the piece of meat he was holding looking ridiculously small between his fingers.

“You bet it is !” Exclaimed Luffy, still smiling but his tone a little more serious. “I would have kicked your ass if you said it tasted bad ! Sanji is the best chef !”

They both continued to laugh and eat, ignoring the shocked Vivi that watched them.

“Ne, why are you living alone here ?” Asked Luffy. “Don’t you have a village to live in ?”

“I have a home, but it's far away. The island I'm from is called Elbaf, it's the main island for us giants. The law there says that if two people have a disagreement and can't solve it, they have to fight to death, and our god Elbaf will judge who is right and bestow divine protection on them to ensure their survival. I've gotten involved in a quarrel once on this island, and since then we have been using it as a battleground to determine who is right. But it has been one hundred years since we started fighting, and we just can’t seem to settle our duel !” He concluded with a booming laugh.

“You’ve been fighting for a hundred years ?” Exclaimed Luffy, impressed.

“It may seem long for you, but the lifespan of a giant is three times as long as yours.”

“But how can you still fight after all this time?” Asked Vivi, before being interrupted by a huge explosion, the same one that they heard when they arrived at the island. “Are you trying to kill each other ?” She insisted, before Dorry stood up on his feets.

“This explosion is the signal for battle.” He explained to Luffy.

“How can you hate each other so much that you tried to kill each other for a hundred years.” Continued Vivi, angry at being ignored, before Luffy silenced her with a hand on her mouth.

“It’s not about that anymore.” He started to explain.

“Yes, it’s about pride now.” Continued Dorry.

They could see a huge form appear on the other side of the island, and the two giants started running towards each other. “We forgot the reason for our clash ages ago!” Finally shouted Dorry, while bringing sharply his sword on Brogy’s head and parrying his fellow giant’s battleaxe with his shield.

The clash continued, each giant trying his best to kill the other, while at the same time none of them managing to really hit each other, too used to their fighting style not to anticipate each attack from their rival.

“Don’t you long for our home, Dorry ?” Asked Brogy, after he parried a vicious slash from Dorry’s sword.

“That’s exactly why I’ll crush you today and leave for Elbaf victorious, Brogy !” Dorry shouted, before bringing his sword sharply forward, and piercing the rock behind Brogy in a show of strength. The battle-axed giant managed to avoid the attack by jumping sharply into the air, and used the opening to bring down his axe on the head of his rival. Dorry took the hit to the side of his helmet, managing to avoid it piercing his shoulder and his head.

“If he received that blow just a few centimeters off, it would have meant instant death!” Exclaimed Usopp from their place high above the ground on the side of one of the smaller volcanoes where Brogy had dropped them when the fight had started, half impressed and half afraid. “All of their attacks are aiming for each other’s most vial points.” He continued his analysis.

“It’s our chance to escape.” Said Nami, trying to drag him back into the forest and away from the fight, but Usopp stood his ground.

“This is what a fight between man is !” He proclaimed, awed. “Can’t you see ?” He continued, seeing that Nami wasn’t understanding. “This is a real battle of pride between two warriors ! I’m going to stay here a bit longer and watch, because this is what I meant by brave warrior of the seas… I want to become just like them !” He said, determined.

Nami stopped trying to get away, and came back to sit next to him. “So… You want to be a giant ?” She asked, smiling smugly at Usopp spluttered denials.

During their talk, the two giants had lost their weapon, and were now fighting each other with just their fist and their shield. They managed to hit each other’s head with their shield at the same time, the hits strong enough to make the earth vibrate around them. They stood their ground for a few seconds before dropping at the same time on the ground.

“73 466 fights…” Started Brogy.

“73 466 draws.” Finished Dorry.

They panted for a few seconds on the floor, before Brogy started laughing. “Hey, Dorry, I got some rum from guests !” He explained happily. Dorry laugh soon answered him. 

“Excellent ! I haven’t had rum for so long, pour me some, will you ?”

A few minutes and an exchange of rum later, Dorry was back next to Luffy and Vivi, bringing them news of Usopp and Nami's presence with Brogy.

“Sorry to change the topic.” Interrupted Vivi. “But you said earlier that it takes a year for the log to finish recording on this island, is that true ?”

“Did you not see the skeletons of the little humans lying around ? Most humans who come here end up dying long before their log pose sets. Some get eaten by the dinosaurs, some try to attack us… I only know of one human who managed to survive more than a year here, all of the others end up perishing on this island. It seems that spending even a single year here is too long for you little ones.”

“What do I do.” Whispered desperately Vivi, her head between her hands. “Even if I survive on this island for that long, who knows what would become of my country during that time…”

“Yeah, spending a whole year here would get kinda boring.” Agreed Luffy. “Isn’t there some other way ?” He asked the giant.

“Well, I do have one eternal pose, put it only points toward my home, Elbaf. But I said there was one little human that managed to survive on this island for more than a year, and he is still here. You could try asking him if he has a log pose ? It would be set by now.” Dorry offered after a moment of reflection.

“Really Mr. Giant ? Could you show us where he lives ?” Asked Luffy.

“Sure.” Dorry offered.

He put down the barrel of rum he had just opened and was going to take a swing off and rose from his sitting position.

“He tries to stay away from our battle, so he lives closer to this small chains of volcanoes that you can see over there.” He said, pointing to the other side of the island, closer to Brogy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This first chapter follow closely the canon, since the 'main' character hasn't appeared yet. The next ones will be more differents I promise !


	2. Baroque's Work And Dinosaurs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before Dorry can bring Luffy, Vivi and Karoo to the owner of a Logue Pose, he is interupted by the start of another fight against Brogy. Unlike the first 73 466 times, this one doesn't end up on a tie.

Dorry grabbed Vivi and Karoo, putting them in the palm of his hand. It was big enough that Luffy would have no problem sitting with them, but the teen decided to go on Dorry’s shoulder.

Dorry started walking toward where he could see Brogy sitting. He barely had crossed half of the distance between them when the volcano exploded again.

“Another fight so soon ?” He asked, before turning and walking away from the area they usually fought in. “I will come back after our fight.” He said, lowering his hand enough for Vivi and Karoo to jump off. Luffy dropped from his position still quite high, landing on the ground with a loud _thump_.

Brogy was already waiting for him, his axe resting on his shoulder. “Dorry, how was the rum ?” He asked once he got closer. “You enjoyed it, right ?”

“I didn’t have the time to taste it.” Admitted the other giant. “Our little friends asked me to bring them to the other human that lives on this island.”

“You are too good.” Laughed Brogy, before he shot forward and without warning brought his axe down against Dorry’s sword.

“Even after all those years, they are still fighting strong.” Said Vivi, observing the fight from the top of a tree, Luffy holding her around the waist so she didn’t fall.

“They’re fighting for their honor.” Answered Luffy, a small smile on his lips. A shout of his name dragged his attention back to the ground, and he dropped down, ignoring Vivi’s shout in his ear.

“Ussop ?” He asked, landing in front of the sharpshooter.

“We are in big trouble !” Shouted the long-nosed teen. “Nami was eaten by a dinosaur !”

“Whaaaat ?”

“We were running out of the jungle, and suddenly she disappeared.” Explained Usopp. “What am I going to do ? I let my friend die!” He said desperately.

“Wait, you said that Nami disappeared, but did you check around the area ?” Asked calmly Vivi.

“I am scared to death !” Shouted Usopp in answer. “How can I check ? Even if it’s not a dinosaur, it must be some kind of monster !”

“Or it could be a human. Dorry said that someone else lived on this island, and Miss All Sunday knew that we were going to Little Garden… Maybe Baroque’s Work sent someone.” She reasoned.

A shout of pain startled them, and they turned back to watch the giant’s fight that had been forgotten in their agitation just in time to see Brogy’s axe slashing into Dorry’s torso, the latter being already on his knees in front of his adversary. A large spray of blood soared from the wound, painting the forest around the two giants in red.

The pirates looked, shocked, as Dorry’s sword slipped from his limp hands, and he toppled forward.

“DORRY” Shouted Luffy at the top of his lungs.

Brogy stood in front of the body of his defeated rival, his breath coming out in pants. “We’ve fought 73 467 times.” He said, his voice just loud enough for Dorry to hear. “And I’ve won once.” He continued, a sob escaping him.

“Dorry !” Shouted Luffy once again as he slingshotted himself toward the two giants. The shout wasn’t loud enough to hide the sound of a laugh coming from behind the still standing giant.

“Are you crying of happiness ?” Asked an obnoxious voice. “You have easily won over that guy. You have done half my job, I should thank you.” Continued the man. He was leaning against a tree, looking away from the giants.

“Crying of happiness ?” Repeated angrily Brogy. “What are you talking about ? Who are you ?”

“My name’s Mr. 3, and this is my partner Ms. Golden Week.” The man said, coming out from behind his tree and pointing a finger as a young girl that appeared next to him. “Anyway… You have been captured by me.”

Just as he said this, Brogy finally became aware of the strange sensation around his legs, and was shocked to see his legs trapped by a strange, white structure. “What is this ?” He asked angrily.

“Just what did you do to Dorry ?” Asked Luffy at the same time, his voice flat in his anger.

Brogy turned his head to see that his fellow giant had the same kind of substance around his feet.

“Luffy, we will help you take care of them !” Shouted Usopp, just arriving on the scene, Vivi on his heels.

“ _We_ will take care of you.” A new voice drawled from behind them, and the two new arrivals as well as Luffy turned around. 

“It’s you !” Shouted Luffy, recognizing the man that had attacked them at Whiskey Peak.

“You shouldn’t have left your pet behind.” Said Mr. 5, his partner laughing behind him as he dropped an obviously hurt Karoo on the ground. The duck was covered in light burns and ashes.

“What did you do to Karoo ?” Shouted Vivi, running to kneel next to her friend.

“Oh, we just tried to make him cry for help.” He explained. “We saw you running after this kid,” he said while pointing toward Luffy, “and he is obviously the most dangerous of you all. So we wanted to make you come back toward us, but this shitty bird refused, and pissed me off. Nothing seems to go according to the plan today.” He said in a whiny tone. “First, we tried to hurt the giants by sabotaging the rum so it would explode, but it seems that nobody drank that particular barrel… And now even a bird opposed us.”

“You wanted to destroy the honor of those giant’s battle ?” Usopp exclaimed angrily. “I’m sure this is why the fight ended so quickly ! This white thing had a part in Dorry’s defeat.” While he had felt kinship with Brogy and wanted to see him win, he could recognize that the two giants seemed too well attuned to each other for Dorry to lose a fight this easily.

“Prepare to die” Shouted Vivi, and she jumped towards the enemies with her peacock slasher out, while Usopp started to shoot at them. However, Mr. 5 absorbed the explosive projectile from Usopp, and threw back a bomb at him. 

“USOPP !” Shouted Luffy, and jumped away from the giants to help his friends fight. However, Mr. 3 intercepted him with a wall, and he could only hear Miss Valentine calling out her attack, followed by a shout of pain from Ussop.

“Get away from me !” Luffy shouted angrily, turning toward the one that had blocked him.

“I won’t let you participate in this fight.” Answered the man. “I am Mr. 3, one of Baroque’s Works top agents. I ate the Wax Wax Fruit and became a ‘candle man’, you won’t be able to stop me.” He demonstrated his power by creating more wax to surround Brogy and prevent him from moving.

“You’d better not move” he said, laughing as the giant tried to free himself. “My candle jacket is stronger than a rock. No matter how powerful you are, you can’t do anything tied up.”

“Then it is a good thing I’m not tied up !” Said Luffy. “Gum Gum Bazooka!” He shouted, snapping both of his hands forwards toward the wax surrounding one of Brogy arms, and cracking it under the impact. The giant managed to break it further and free his arm, but Mr. 3 just sent more wax to cover him, and he found himself trapped again.

“Why are you fighting like that, shouldn’t you be happy ?” Asked Mr. 3 to the giant. “After all, isn’t it good that you finally won your fight ? Even though your victory came from the help of one human.”

“You ! You dared interrupt our duel !” Shouted Brogy. Luffy tried once again to attack Mr. 3 in retaliation, but he just created a wall of wax between them, thick enough that it didn’t break when hit by a Gum Gum Pistol.

“Did you know,” Continued Mr. 3, ignoring the anger coming from his opponents and still talking calmly, in his boring voice, “that both of your heads are still worth a lot ?” He asked, referencing Dorry and Brogy bounties that had been issued decades ago.

Brogy seemed to pulse in anger, but before he could answer, Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine came back from their fight, Vivi trapped in Miss Valentine's grip.

“Don’t hurt my friends !” Shouted Luffy, before stopping his attack to avoid the wax that Mr. 3 threw toward him. He had seen how strong the giants were, and if the wax managed to totally incapacitate Brogy, then he didn’t want to be touched by it.

“Candle Service Set !” Shouted Mr. 3, profiting from Luffy’s distraction to attack Vivi. “Mr 5, bring me that swordsman and the other girl. I will start my special service, Candle Lock !” More wax came out of his hands, creating a strange structure trapping Vivi. The bottom part looked like a cake, but on top of it was posed a round structure resembling a pumpkin, with candles on it. Mr. 5 then came out of the wood, and threw on the ground Nami and Zoro, both with their arms locked behind their back and their feet trapped together by wax.

“Luffy !” They both shouted, seeing their captain once again try to attack the Baroque’s work agents, this time being repulsed by one of Mr. 5’s bombs.

“Do you know where Usopp is ?” Asked worriedly Nami, turning toward Vivi. He had left her to fend for herself in the forest, and she was rather cross at him for that, but that meant that he might have escaped and could sneak around to free them .

“The other boy ?” Answered Mr. 5. “I’ve already killed him.”

“What ?” Shouted Nami, while Zoro narrowed his eyes at him. While Usopp wasn’t the strongest out there, he was still resilient, and Mr. 5’s bombs didn’t seem overly strong. Being hit by one of them would probably hurt the sniper, but he wouldn’t die from that. He had won his fight against a fishman after all.

“Welcome to my service set !” Shouted Mr. 3, his arms spread wide to show the structure behind him, where he quickly put Zoro and Nami next to Vivi. Their feet were trapped this time by a dozen of centimeters of the wax constructing the cake-like structure, but their hands were freed. However, they still couldn’t escape.

Mr. 3 then went on to describe how the wax from his Candle Service Set would recover the three pirates and would slowly kill them, making wax dolls from their dead body.

“Mr. Brogy !” Shouted Nami, seeing the giant trapped next to them. “Can’t you move ? Do something !” She continued, while Zoro observed the giant curiously, seeing one for the first time since he had spent all his time on the island hunting dinosaurs.

“He won’t move.” Started Mr. 3, laughing. “He has killed his best friends for hundreds of years with his own hands. He really is stup-” His tirade was interrupted by Luffy, who finally managed to get around Mr. 5 bombs, and with Mr. 3 too distracted to throw wax at him, got close enough to hit him in the face, sending him flying for a few meters and right into a tree.

The other Baroque’s Work agent reacted quickly. Miss Golden Week grabbed a brush and started mixing paint, while Mr. 5 threw a barrage of bombs toward the pirate captain, Miss Valentine using the first few explosions to jump high into the air, trying to pinpoint where her enemy was so she could drop on him, the smoke too thick for her to see. 

After a few seconds, Mr. 5 stopped sending bombs, and everyone waited for the smoke to dispel so they could see if Luffy was still standing. However, before the air was clear enough to enable them to see, a few projectiles were suddenly shot from behind the smoke barrier, hitting the two female agents and exploding into flames on impact. Miss Valentine managed to stop the flames before they damaged her too much by dropping suddenly onto the floor, but Miss Golden Week shouted as the flames destroyed her pallet and brush, before rolling onto the floor to stop burning.

“My paint!” She shouted, enraged, but now unable to fight.

Luffy then rocketed out of the forest, and sent Miss Valentine right into the arms of Mr. 5, who exploded on impact, knocking out his partner.

“Luffy !” Shouted Nami, getting his attention. “You need to destroy this pole, it is turning us into candles statues.” She explained. Luffy threw his arm behind him to do just that with a Bazooka, but Mr. 3, who had recuperated from the earlier assault, threw a Candle Lock at his legs, throwing off his balance and making him fall on the ground. He then proceeded to trap him in even more wax, soon making him unable to fight. Usopp tried to shoot explosive bullets at him, but this time Mr. 5 managed to stop them with his own explosives, and fired a few times in the direction of the forest to try to hit him.

Usopp panted, hiding behind a tree. Mr. 5 explosive attacks and Miss Valentine dropping on the top of him at her maximal weight had really hurt him earlier, and he wanted nothing more than to drop on the ground, play dead and sleep the pain away, but he still needed to fight and save his friends. A quick glance toward the clearing made him swallow nervously. Luffy wouldn’t be able to fight unless he managed to get him out of the wax. The same could be said for the giants and the rest of his crew. He had no idea where Sanji was, and the only one here free to fight alongside him was Karoo, who was as hurt as him, but also as determined to fight. However, he had no idea how he could face both Mr. 5 and Mr. 3 at the same time, one of them being able to protect them from his projectile and the other able to retaliate.

Furthermore, if Mr. 3 caught him, the whole crew was doomed unless Sanji appeared, and he couldn't count on the chef to arrive in time. He had gone hunting, and who knew where on the island that had taken him.

Just as he decided that he needed to try to land one attack on Mr. 3, hopefully to knock him out so his wax would disappear, a new voice echoed on the battlefield.

“What is going on here ?”

Everyone still able to move turned to face the newcomer, Usopp and Karoo peeking from behind their tree to watch him. 

He was tall, taller than even Mr. 5. He had orange hair, long enough to be styled over his head, and a strange mask covered part of his face. There was an X-like scar on his chin, and a similar tattoo covering most of his muscular chest. His blue leather clothes were skin tight, and showed that he had a lot more muscle than the six pack that was visible.

“Who are you ?” Asked Mr. 5, watching him suspiciously. There was already one member of the StrawHat crew that he hadn’t been aware of, the sniper, and this man might be another one.

“I’m the one asking the questions here.” Answered the newcomer coldly. “And I don’t like what I am seeing right now.” He added, eyeing the scenery around him. The two giants were trapped on the ground by some sort of white substance, two women and one man were also trapped in the same substance that seemed to be solidifying and restraining them more and more, even if he could still see most of their skin. There were two unconscious women lying on the ground, and his observation haki alerted him of the man behind the tree, as well as another presence - it didn’t feel human, so probably an animal.

“Mr. 5.” Called the man with a huge 3 on his head, and the man next to him, probably Mr. 5, sent something toward him. He easily avoided the projectile, not knowing what it was and not wanting to risk being hurt by it. This proved to be the right choice to make, since it exploded behind him as soon as it came in contact with something solid.

“Mr. 5…” He repeated, pensively. “Would I be wrong to say that you, and Mr. 3 over there, are part of Baroque’s Work ?” The reaction from the two men confirmed his suspicion. “Hmm… Well sadly, while I generally don’t have anything against bounty hunters, I won’t let the two of you try to hunt me or report my location to anyone else. So I’ll have to stop you right there and then.” 

Mr. 3 immediately sent a flow of white substance- wax ?- after him, that he easily sidestepped. His two adversaries were apparently both paramecia, but their powers weren’t a danger to him. They felt rather weak, not like the presence of the man trapped in the weird wax structure and the one on the floor. The fact that they had been trapped, as well as the giant, only showed that the master over one's Devil Fruit could give an advantage in a fight, no matter the strength of the user.

He distantly sensed the man that had been hiding behind the trees start to move, but he didn’t feel any intent to attack him, so he let him sneak around until he was at his back, his haki still following him just in case.

Mr. 5 once again sent bombs at him at the same time that his partner sent a wax wall behind his back, so that even if he avoided them, the explosion would still hurt him when colliding with the wall. Or at least that was the plan, until he jumped, high enough to reach the top of the wall and stand on it, watching dispassionately as the projectiles exploded below him. Mr. 3 then tried to re-liquify the wax to trap him, but as soon as the wax moved he jumped again, this time toward him, at full speed. He was quick enough that Mr. 3 didn’t have time to create a wall between them before he was hit square in the chest, the punch strong enough not only to send him flying into a tree, but through the three and into the ones behind it.

Mr. 5 turned around, surprised at the speed at which the other was able to move, and wasn’t able to totally escape the fist that grazed his jaw. He immediately replied by breathing out in the face of the other man, his breath exploding on impact, the other too close to avoid it. The taller man jumped back to put more distance between them, before fixing him with angry eyes. Mr. 5 threw a few more bombs, but this time didn’t aim them all toward his opponent, half of them targeting Usopp that had just ran back into the clearing on Karoo's back, the duck running toward the candle with a cord in his beak while Usopp was holding a lighter. They weren’t able to escape the explosion in time, and both dropped to the ground.

“I won’t allow you to save your friends this easily !” Shouted Mr. 5.

The orange-haired man turned to watch the scene. The three people trapped in the candle-like structure were now totally covered in wax, and it probably wouldn’t be long before none of them were able to breath. Their friend probably was trying to make the wax melt by putting it on fire. And while he couldn’t do that, he had a way to save them from their predicament. He tugged on his gloves to remove them, and with an ear-shattering roar, he suddenly transformed into a dinosaur. His blue eyes closed for a second as his fingers grew into green claws, a strong tail appearing on his back. His mask, leather shirt and pants, as well as his cape grew in size alongside him, his boots disappearing. When he opened his eyes, the part closer to his pupil had become yellow and the farther orange, a small black circle separating them.

With his new, bigger size, it wasn’t too much work to grab between his strong teeth the top of the candle which was dripping wax everywhere, and throw it far away. He then carefully grabbed one of the statues between his front claws, and applied enough force to make the wax crack. Mr. 5 used his distraction to throw more bombs at him, which he couldn’t dodge because of the still defenseless people in front of him. However, his thick skin still protected him from most of the damage, the bomb strong enough to hurt but not wound him.

He repeated the process with the two other persons, cracking their wax prison enough for them to be able to move, and let them a few seconds to grab the wax covering their face and free their mouth to breath.

“Protect your face.” He warned, turning as soon as he saw them complying and bringing his tail sharply in front of them, breaking the wax trapping their feet. The blue-haired woman jumped from the structure immediately, solid pieces of wax falling off her with every move, calling “Usopp ! Carrue !” as she ran toward the men and the duck that were trying to get up. 

The swordsman observed him carefully, ignoring the attempts from the redhead to berate him about his wounds, and the dinosaur zoan could feel that the one in front of him was also a predator. His instincts bristled at the challenge he could see in the green-haired man's eyes, but a particularly big explosion on his side dragged his attention back to the Baroque’s Work officer, who didn’t seem to understand how little his explosions were affecting him. The zoan ran toward him at full speed and, calling forth his haki, grabbed him in his mouth. The resulting explosion so close to his eyes made him flinch slightly, but the satisfying “crunch” sound that the body made when his spinal cord was broken by his teeth compensated any pain he could feel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mr. 5 is of course fine, he just need to drink a little milk to get better.


	3. A New Crewmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drake’s a dinosaur, which is _cool_. Luffy wants him in his crew, and we know how insistent he can be.

“Can you free the others from the wax ?” Asked the swordsman, who seemed to have caved and was letting the red-haired woman bandage his damaged legs.

“Of course. The fact that the wax hasn’t disappeared however means that the one responsible is still conscious, so you should all stay wary of attacks.” He answered, ignoring the hints of challenge that he could hear in the other man tone.

He made quick work of the wax trapping the black haired teen, before turning his sight toward the two giants. Dorry seemed the most hurt, but he didn’t really have wax trapping him, his injury seeming to come from the huge wound on his front, and he would probably be able to free himself without problems once he woke up. The one trapping Brogy however where sturdier, and he observed them for a second. 

There were obvious shackles around his hands and feet, but there was also a layer of wax keeping his body stuck to the floor, and the candle had dripped a fair amount of wax on the top of him.

“Do you think you could free yourself if I break the restraints against your arms and feet ?” He asked the giant.

“Sure.”

It took a bit of struggle, but they finally managed to free the giant and get him back on his feets.

The zoan then changed form to his human one, and got closer to Dorry, watching his slashed chest rise and fall. “He is still alive.” He announced, getting the attention of everyone. “The cut was deep, and he bled a lot, but it wasn’t deep enough for you to hit any organs. He would probably survive if you have some bandage lying around that can help stench the blood.”

“Ne, Mister Dinosaur, are you a doctor ?” The question came from the dark haired teen with a straw hat, and the nickname made him twitch.

“Drake.” He instantly corrected. “My name’s X Drake. And I’m not a doctor, but I know my way around flesh wounds, and given how resilient giants are, a hit like that shouldn’t kill him unless he was already hurt. But you should probably refrain from battle for a few days.” He added, turning to face Brogy. “After all he wouldn’t have been hurt in a fair fight.”

Luffy watched him for a few seconds in silence. The man had saved his crew when Luffy hadn’t been able after all. He tended to give nicknames to people, but this one deserved to be called by his name. “Drake. Thank you for saving my crew’s life.” He said, before giving a proper bow, to the shock of his crew mates. Nobody had seen him act like that before, and they certainly didn’t think that he would know politeness if it hit him in the face.

“It was no problem.” Answered Drake. “You said crew ? You certainly look more like pirates than royal guards, but given the presence of royalty among you, I wasn’t sure.” At these words, everyone but the giants tensed up.

“How did you... ?” Asked Vivi, shocked, while almost everyone took defensive posture around her, only Luffy staying still, his head tilted while he observed the tall man in front of him.

Said man seemed a little surprised at their reaction. “I know the face of the leaders of the 173 nations that are affiliated with the World Government, and the face of most of the people who escort their leaders to the Reverie. Princess Nefertari Vivi attended the Reverie since she was a child, of course I would recognize her.”

“So you’re smart ?” Asked Luffy.

Light blue eyes switched to watch him. “I’m informed.” He corrected. While he knew he was fairly intelligent, he had nothing on some people that truly were genius.

“Join my crew !” Shouted the captain, to the shock of everyone.

“What ?” Drake asked, totally dumbfounded, most of the others echoing him.

“You can’t ask everyone that !” Shouted Usopp

“I don’t even know who you are.” Said Drake. “And I certainly don’t plan to join a pirate crew anytime soon.”

“Oh, I’m Luffy !” Answered the teenager happily. “My swordsman is named Zoro, Nami is our navigator, Usopp our liar-" "Sniper !" "-and then there’s Vivi.” He said, pointing to each person he named. “Her duck’s named Karoo. Oh, and I have a chef too, his name is Sanji, but I don’t know where he is.” He concluded.

Drake blinked in the face of his enthusiasm. “Well, nice to meet you. But I still don’t want to join you.”

“But I want you to join.” Whined Luffy.

“Are you sure ?” Asked Nami. While they all had relaxed slightly when he didn’t seem to want to hurt Vivi despite recognizing her, she had still felt the strength of his teeths when he had freed her and she didn’t want to get into the same position without a layer of wax protecting her. It also showed how much control he had over his strength, since she didn't doubt he could have easily bitten through her.

She was saved from Luffy’s enthusiastic answer when Dorry suddenly sat up, making everyone's eyes widen. “It seems I’ve passed out for a bit.” He grumbled, his voice rough.

“Dorry !” Exclaimed his fellow giant. “The human told me you would survive, but I’m still so happy to see you awake.”

“It’s most likely because of our weapons.” Said Dorry, before showing how Brogy’s axe blade had been dulled by time and the repetitive fights. “We had been fighting for so long that the blades are no longer sharp.”

The two giants then proceeded to bandage Dorry’s wound, bickering most of the time.

~~One Piece~~

“You little ones really helped us out back there, if there’s anything we can do to thank you…” Started Brogy.

“And you even found the man you were looking for.” Added Dorry.

“We did ?” Asked Luffy, as Vivi turned to face Drake.

“So you have really lived here for more than a year ?” She asked, shocked. “Do you have a Log Pose ? I have to go back to my country as soon as possible, and we can’t wait a year on this island.”

Drake watched her, using a mix of observation haki and his own instinct to gauge her sincerity. She seemed pretty desperate, and whatever reason made a respected princess of a country such as Alabasta disappear from her country for years, only to reappear in the company of pirates and chased by Baroque’s Work, was probably worth him giving up on his Log Pose. He could probably trade it for theirs, even if it would force him to stay for another year on Little Garden. “Sure. One of you can follow me back to where I put my stuff, and I’ll give you my Log Pose.” He easily agreed.

“Yosh !” Shouted happily Luffy. “And then you can join my crew.”

“I’m not-” Drake’s denial was cut off by a shout.

“Helloooo, NAMI, VIVI, the rest… Thank god you’re all safe !” Shouted Sanji, arriving running into the place where they were, to the angry muttering of Usopp and Zoro at his casual disregard of the men of the crew. “The hell… Is that Mr. 3 ?” He asked once he laid eyes on Dorry.

“How do you know about Mr. 3 ?” Asked Nami.

“Well- Oh, My… Electrifying as always, Nami-san.” He said, his eyes strangely taking the shape of hearts for a second. Drake followed his look and now that he wasn’t fully involved in a fight, he could admit that the navigator wasn’t wearing much fabric, most of her skin above the hips showing. He turned his head to discreetly wipe his bloody nose. 

The blonde explained the conversation he just had with Mr. 0, and the fact that they were now considered dead, to the shock of everyone.

“Yes !” Said happily Usopp. “We can escape off this island and we’re no longer in danger.”

“Oh, yes, I managed to get this thing from them too.” Said Sanji, showing the eternal pose that he had stolen from the Unluckies.

“Oh, great ! Drake here was going to give us his Log Pose, but your way works too.” Said Nami with a smile.

‘Drake ?’ Thought Sanji, turning to look at the man that he hadn’t noticed until now, too distracted first by the giant, then by Nami’s lovely figure. Tall, a red-head, muscular… Small lighting bolts shouted out of his eyes as he took in the possible competition to win Nami and Vivi’s hearts. He was sure that without him here, the ladies would have been much more thankful for his eternal pose, and he might even have gotten a hug out of it. He saw Zoro out of the corner of his eyes, and decided that he wouldn’t focus on this new threat when there was already one on the ship. The other man was an unknown, and would probably stay on this island, far away from the ladies. “You haven’t forgotten about our hunting contest, have you ?” He asked the swordsman with a challenging look.

“Hm ? Oh, I’m sure I’ve won. I caught a rhino this big.” Answered Zoro, spreading his arms out for empathize.

“A rhino ?” Said Sanji. “Can you even eat that thing ?” He asked.

“It’s not the best meat that you can catch around here, but it’s good enough.” Answered the redhead, gaining a glare for the interruption.

“Yeah Drake, wait until you have tasted Sanji’s cooking ! He can make anything taste good.” Exclaimed Luffy, before turning back to the giants. “Alright ! We’ll be taking off now.” He said, before grabbing Drake’s arm and starting to tug him.

“I’m not coming !” Exclaimed the zoan, echoed by an incredulous “He’s coming ?” from Sanji.

“But isn’t it boring here ?” Asked the captain. “You’re a good guy I can tell, and you saved our lives. Plus, we’re going to save Vivi’s country !” 

The last argument made the tall man hesitate, his clear blue eyes turning to lock themselves on Vivi’s. “Aren’t you pirates ? Why would you do that ?” He asked.

“Vivi’s our friend !” The teen exclaimed, a huge smile on his face.

 _He seems nice..._ Thought Drake, _And sincere. Are they really doing that only to help their friend ? I’m curious about the situation in Alabasta anyway, I could just ditch them if I don’t like what they are doing. I’ve stayed on this island long enough._

“Sure, why not” He finally said with a sigh. “Last I knew, Alabasta was on the verge of a civil war, so I guess you’ll want all the help you can get.”

“And how do you know that ?” Asked Nami, suspicious.

Drake stared at her silently for a few seconds. “I get the newspaper here.” He answered plainly.

“Well then,” Boomed Dorry, “We won’t ask you to stay longer. I hope your country will be safe.” He said to Vivi.

“Can you bring me to my side of the island ?” Asked Drake to Brogy. “It will be faster than me walking here.”

“I’ll come with you.” Said immediately Zoro. Drake could understand the concern, after all his recruitment had been rather fast. It couldn’t be usual to get new crewmates just because of the captain’s whims.

“We’ll regroup at the Merry.” Decided Nami.

Brogy put Zoro and Drake on his shoulder and started walking, the ride to the other side of the island only taking a little over a minute.

“So you’ve lived here for a year ?” Asked Zoro, looking at the entrance to Drake’s ‘home’. There was a small passage in the side of one of the smaller volcanoes, big enough to let them enter but Drake had to slightly tilt his head not to touch the ceiling.

“A year and a little over two months.” Said Drake. “The island seemed… fitting, given my devil fruit.”

“I didn’t know there was devil fruit that allowed you to transform into a dinosaur… But then I didn’t know devil fruit existed a month ago.” He added.

“It’s an ancient zoan.” Explained Drake.

“Zoan ?” Asked Zoro.

“You don’t… ? There’re three types of devil fruit,” He started explaining. “The more common one is paramecia. The two guys you were fighting were paramecia. Paramecia devil fruits usually enhance the user’s body in some way, or allow them to produce some kind of substance. Then there is the Zoan type, that allows the user to transform into some kind of animal. Most are common animals, there are a lot of birds, felines and canine devil fruit out there. The ancient zoans, like me, can transform into creatures that have disappeared and gone extinct, except for really rare islands like this one. There are also mythical zoans that allow the user to transform into creatures that never existed, the most famous ones are phoenix and dragon.” He continued, looking at Zoro from the corner of his eyes to see if he was following. 

“The last category is called logia, and it allows the user to transform into an element. They are rare, and most of the users are famous and powerful.” He concluded. “You said that you didn’t know they existed before ?”

“Yes, all of the crew, except Vivi, come from East Blue.” Said Zoro, watching as the cavern around them shifted from a cramped pathway to a huge round room. A small bookshelf was overflowing with books, and a desk had been set up next to a bed that seemed barely large enough to suit Drake. “I’ve never seen any mention of Devil Fruit there. There are some rumors, but most people think they’re a myth.” He added, surveilling Drake who started to put his belongings into a backpack. The process was organized, and he could guess that it wasn’t the first time that Drake had to leave somewhere abruptly.

“I know that the World Government generally tries to keep the Blues ignorant about the Grand Line, but I didn’t know they managed it to that point in the East.” Answered Drake. “What about bounties ? They generally have a moniker that indicates it if someone has a Devil Fruit.”

“We don’t get most of those there. I didn’t even know what a Shichibukai was, and I read every newspaper I could get my hands on to try to seek intel on Dracule Mihawk. Most of the bounties we see are the ones for pirates that operate in the East Blue. For the few bounties that come from the other seas, I guess that all bounty hunters thought of the moniker as some sort of exaggeration, I certainly did.”

“Hmm.” Said Drake, finishing to put his last notebook in his backpack. The amount to which the World Government was able to manipulate the information still managed to surprise him after all this time. To be able to avoid all mention of devil fruits ? So much that Zoro, who had just revealed his past as a bounty hunter, didn’t know about them… He guessed there was a reason why the East Blue was called the weakest, despite the fact that some of the most famous criminals and marines alike came from here.

“You a swordsman ?” Asked Zoro when Drake went to grab his weapons. He didn’t have them on him before, since he had been hunting for food in his dinosaur’s form when he noticed that the giant’s fight had ended faster than usual, and he immediately went to investigate. Zoro was eyeing the sword attached to his right side with interest.

“Not really. I fight with a sword, and I know I’m not bad at it, but I wouldn’t call myself a swordsman. I usually fight with both my axe and sword at the same time, which can be destabilizing for most swordsmen.” He offered. If they had to help a princess take back control of her country, there would be fighting, so it didn’t make sense for him to try to hide his fighting style. And he knew how most swordsmen wanted to challenge each other, and he rather not be pestered every day for a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it didn’t take much to convince Drake to leave Little Garden, but he probably got bored staying there all alone.


	4. Departure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Straw Hats and their new crewmember leave Little Garden.

After Drake had made a final swipe of his room to make sure he hadn’t forgotten anything, he and Zoro started the journey back to the surface, and then toward the StrawHat’s ship once again on Brogy’s shoulder.

“My lizard is clearly bigger !” Exclaimed the blonde cook as soon as he saw them, earning a disturbed look from Drake.

“Are you blind ?” Snarled Zoro, jumping down from Brogy’s shoulder to get in the blonde’s face. “My rhino is clearly the bigger animal.”

“Your dinosaur looks like Drake.” Said Luffy to Sanji. “Is it your brother or something ?” He asked Drake.

“That’s a tyrannosaurus. I’m an allosaurus. And even if he was from the same species, he wouldn’t be my brother. I’m human.” _Did he seriously ask me if it was my brother ?_

“Oooh.” Said Luffy, a look of understanding crossing his face.

“How long are you all going to bicker ?” Shouted Nami from inside the Merry. “Just pack as much meat as possible and let’s get away from this island.”

“As you wish, Nami !” Exclaimed Sanji, while Drake looked at her from the corner of his eyes, secretly glad that she had finally put on a t-shirt and covered up.

“Just sail straight from here.” Said Brogy once the meat was packed up and everyone was ready to go. “You can exit on the western side of the island.” Dorry added, having joined them.

“The western side ?” Murmured Drake.

“There is one reason why none of the humans that have reached this island had left it alive.” Said Brogy as he walked next to their ship. “Most people try to leave even without their log pose setting, but nobody has ever reached the next island.” Added Dorry. “You all have risked your lives so that our pride can remain untarnished.” He continued. “Thus, in turn, no matter the foe…” Said Brogy. “We must not let your flag of pride be tarnished either !” Shouted Dorry. “Trust us, and sail straight ahead! No matter what happens, sail only straight ahead.” Finished Brogy.

“Got it, sail straight ahead.” Said determinedly Luffy.

“Let us meet again-” “-one day in the future !” Said the giants, both of them grabbing their weapons and lifting them into the air.

“Look! Up ahead !” Shouted panickedly Nami, as the sea in front of them started to lift.

“So you’ve come, Island devourer.” “In the name of Elbaf, we vow to clear a path !”

“Go straight ahead.” Shouted Luffy, his voice drowning Nami’s protests.

“Trust in the giants.” Said Drake. “They said they would clear us a path, and even swore in on their honor. They _will_ clear us a path.”

“Are we really going to sail straight into that monster ?” Asked Vivi, her hands grabbing onto Drake’s jacket as he was the closest. The huge head of the creature in front of them got entirely out of the tower, its huge mouth opening wide to swallow them.

“Behold the mightiest spear of we, Giants of Elbaf !” They heard Brogy shout, just as the giant beast’s teeth closed upon them. “Straight ahead !” Chanted both Usopp and Luffy. Just as the fish lifted his head to swallow, the giant sent their most powerful attack, and a huge hole was created in the middle of the beast head, the force of the impact sending the Merry flying. “We’re flying !” Shouted Luffy excitedly, watching from his favorite position of the figurehead at the sky that surrounded them, no longer able to see the sea below them.

“They cut the ocean itself.” Cried Usopp. “So this is the power of Elbaf’s warriors…”

“Now go !” Shouted the giants, their cry making everyone on the Merry look back, just in time to see their weapon break under the pressure of their attacks and of their thousands of fights.

Drake went to put his backpack in the men’s sleeping room, following Sanji that made him take a quick tour of the ship, and watched as he came back Luffy and Usopp who were both dancing and chanting about the might of the giants.

“I don’t know how they can be this lively.” Said Nami, Drake’s attention focusing back on the navigator that was seated on the floor next to the main mast. “I’m exhausted from all that earlier… Vivi, can you keep an eye on the log pose for me ?” She asked. “We can finally go to Alabasta.” She said with a smile, but Drake watched her uneasily. His instinct warned him that there was something wrong with the navigator, but apart from her exhaustion, he couldn’t see anything wrong with her.

“I have to return no matter what.” Confirmed Vivi. “I finally have a way to save Alabasta.”

“No need to strain yourself, Vivi.” Said Sanji, coming toward the ladies with a plate in his hand. “Because I’ll be by your side !” He concluded, noticing from the corner of his eyes that Drake was also watching the ladies. “Your shares are in the kitchen.” He added, turning to the men in an effort to make them leave him alone with Nami and Vivi. Usopp and Luffy happily went to the kitchen, but Drake kept watching them from his place against the railing, his eyes focussing on Nami. “What is it with you !” Shouted Sanji, just as Nami collapsed on the floor. He instantly turned back to her, and watched anxiously as Vivi put a hand on her head.

“Everyone !” She shouted. “It’s an emergency ! Nami has an extremely high fever !”

“I could sense that something was wrong with her, but I couldn’t see what.” Said Drake, his brow furrowed, as Sanji lifted Nami bridal style to bring her to the girl’s bedroom.

“It must have been caused by the climate change.” Started to say Vivi. “There is a sickness that hit most sailors crossing the Grand Line, caused by the abnormal weather.” She explained. “Even the slightest symptoms can lead to death. Isn’t there anyone on this ship with some medical knowledge ?” She asked.

The rest of the StrawHat pointed toward Nami, before Luffy turned toward Drake. “Didn’t you say you were a doctor ?” He asked.

“I said I _wasn’t_ a doctor, but that I know my way around injuries. I know nothing about most diseases.” He said. “We’re not even sure about what she caught. There are some vicious bugs on Little Garden, and who knows what disease they carry… I’m protected because of the nature of my zoan, but anyone on this ship might have been exposed to something dangerous.”

“Her fever is still rising.” Said Vivi worriedly.

“Aren’t there any doctors in Alabasta ? We just need to bring her to a doctor, right ? I’ve never been sick before…” Said Usopp, and all the other men in the room nodded at that.

“She has a fever of 40 degrees! The human body temperature isn’t supposed to be that high, and it’s putting her life at serious risk !” Exclaimed Vivi.

“Whaaat ??” Shouted the rest of the Straw Hats.

“You can’t underestimate diseases.” Added Drake. “Nowadays, there are a lot of things that can be treated by any competent doctor, but despite that, there are still some diseases that have managed to wipe out entire islands without anyone finding a cure.”

This sent them all into a panic, before Vivi had to shout at them to shut up.

“We have to go find a doctor and save Nami !” Shouted decidedly Luffy, only for Nami to contradict him.

“No… There’s a newspaper, on top of my desk. I didn’t want to worry you have it but… 300 000 soldiers of the royal armed forces switched sides and joined the rebels. We need to head straight to Alabasta. I’m sure I just have a little cold, no need to bring me to a doctor.” She said with a smile, but the flush on her face betrayed how hot she felt as she left the room. They could hear her talking to Zoro, before a shout brought them all outside.

“There’s going to be strong wind coming from ahead.” She explained. “You need to lower the sails so we can catch wind from portside.” Drake watched in surprise as the other rushed to follow her orders. He hadn’t heard of everyone able to predict storms that early on the grand line. The navigators of the Emperors’ crews or any notable crew in the New World were able to do it, but they had years to learn how the Grand Line worked, and were used to weather even more chaotic than in this part of the Grand Line. However, Little Garden was the second island of the Grand Line. If she could really predict the weather this early, it spoke of natural talent and was invaluable.

“You shouldn’t push yourself that much…” Started Sanji, but Nami’s vehemence that she was fine stopped him.

“I have a request to all of you.” Said Vivi, coming out of the Merry. “I know that it’s not my place to make such demands, since you’ve already done so much for me… But with the emerging crisis in my country, I want to go there as soon as possible.” She continued, a few murmurs of “Vivi” coming out of the others. “Not even a single moment can be spared. That’s why I ask for this ship to head for Alabasta at the fastest speed !”

Drake tilted his head, watching her closely. While he hadn’t yet had a full explanation of the situation, he had only been quickly informed of what Vivi has been doing these last months, and he didn’t think that someone that was selfless enough to risk her life by joining a criminal organization that wanted nothing more than her death would let others die in front of her in a quest to go back to her country.

“This is why we need to find an island with a doctor immediately. We have to see to it that Nami gets better as fast as possible, and then head for Alabasta. That will be the only way this ship can sail at the fastest, right ?” She continued, and a proud look crossed Luffy’s face at her declaration.

The need for their navigator to be healthy showed right after, as a huge cyclone appeared just where their ship was headed a few minutes ago. “If we had sailed straight, we would have crashed right into it by now !” Exclaimed Luffy.

“I’ve never seen such a navigator.” Said Vivi, shocked.

“The ones that have a true talent for navigation are really rare.” Confirmed Drake. “Most pirate crew would kill to have someone like her on board.”

~~One Piece~~

The next day of sailing passed without anything happening except for their rising worry as Nami’s state deteriorated, until they reached an area where snow was falling.

“It probably means that we’re nearing an island.” Explained Drake. “Most islands have their own climate that influences the surrounding area. That’s why the entrance of the Grand Line is so chaotic : there are a lot of close islands, that all influence the area around them with their own climate. So we should look carefully for an island, it can be anywhere around us.”

It wasn’t long before Zoro, who was the official lookout, called them. Only it wasn’t because he had seen an island. “Guys ?” He asked with a strange voice. “Do you think a person could stand on top of the ocean ?”

“Why the hell are you asking that?” Said Usopp.

“Look ! How do you explain that ?” Luffy, Usopp, and Drake, the three that were on the deck looking for an island around them to help Zoro in the fog while Vivi and Sanji were taking care of Nami, turned to look in the direction that Zoro was pointing.

“What ?” The two dark-haired teenagers asked, when they could, indeed, see a strangely dressed man standing on the ocean.

“Quite cold today, isn’t it ?” Asked calmly the stranger.

“Wait, I’ve seen him before !” Exclaimed Drake before anyone could answer. “He was totally forgettable, but his king was enough of an asshole for me to remember his followers... He’s one of Wapol’s guards.” He warned.

“Wapol ?” Asked Ussop.

As if to answer them, the sea in front of them seemed to lift, just like when they faced the fish at Little Island, and a huge boat appeared from beneath them, the waves rocking the Merry.

“What is that ?” Shouted Luffy.

“Is that thing a ship ?” Asked Zoro at the same time, as the metal plates surrounding the ship fell down, revealing the ship behind.

“Surprised ?” Shouted an obnoxious voice from the ship. “Has my submersible ambush-ship ‘Tin-Can King’ left you speechless ?”

“A pirate ship ?” Asked Usopp, and Drake frowned. Last he knew, Wapol was a tyrant that governed Drum’s Kingdom, and he wasn’t the type to leave his country for anything except the Reverie.

Men jumped from Wapol’s ship to the Merry, and the StrawHats quickly found themselves surrounded. 

“What’s going on out there ?” Shouted Sanji as he came running out of the ship. He jerked to a stop when he found himself faced by the barrel of a gun. He casually got his matches out, and lit up his cigarette. “Well, what’s going on ?” He repeated calmly.

“We’re being ambushed.” Said Luffy casually.

“Yeah, I figured.” He said, watching the high number of unknowns surrounding them and threatening them all with guns.

“Hmm, that makes five people in total.” Said the obnoxious voice, that Drake could recognize belonged to Wapol. “There can’t be only five people on this ship. Well, whatever. Let me ask you something.” He said, as he started to eat the sword he was holding in his hand.

“The hell ?” Exclaimed Luffy, looking disgusted, while Zoro watched him uneasily, his hand coming to rest reassuringly on Wado’s hilt.

“Careful, he is a paramecia, he ate the Munch-Munch Fruit.” Warned Drake. “He is able to eat almost anything and transform it into a weapon.”

“We’re heading to Drum Kingdom.” Wapol said. “Do you have an Eternal Pose, or even a Log Pose pointing there ?”

“No.” Started Sanji, before being interrupted by Drake.

“Why would you even need that ? You don’t have an eternal pose to your own country ?”

“What ?” Asked Luffy.

“He is the king of Drum Kingdom, a tyrant really.” He explained.

“Oh, if you’re going to say things like that… I’ll have to take all of your treasures and your ship, for daring to insult me.” Wapol said smugly. He then proceeded to open his mouth wide, a bit on the side of the Merry, tearing a chunk of wood from the ship.

“Don’t let him eat Merry !” Exclaimed Luffy, and they all put themselves into their combat stance, except Usopp who tried to hide behind the mast. The invaders started to shoot at Luffy, and the StrawHats that were able to jumped into the fight. Drake didn’t let himself be distracted by the gunshots, having been explained a little more about the crew while they were trying to find the nearest island. A rubber paramecia might not seem powerful at first, but it hadn’t taken long for him to see how it might be beneficial in a fight. Instead, he rushed toward Wapol, forcing the king to stop eating their ship to turn and eat his hand instead.

“The fool !” Exclaimed the Drum’s soldiers, before shouting, shocked, when Drake suddenly shifted into his hybrid form, the scales covering his arm too strong for Wapol’s to bite through. He used his free hand to clock him in the jaw, the metal bending under his hand before Wapol was sent flying toward the sea, his silhouette rapidly disappearing in the snow fog.

“This is bad ! His majesty was flung into the ocean !” Shouted the man that was standing on the water earlier.

“And he can’t swim !” Shouted another one of Wapol’s followers, this one just as oddly dressed as the first man. “Back to the ship, everyone !” He ordered, the soldiers rushing to follow his order. “If we don’t go rescue him, he’ll drown for sure !”

“And for you scum !” Shouted the first one, his finger pointing toward Drake. “We’ll have our revenge one day, so remember us !” “Remember us !” Echoed the other one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoiler : They weren’t remembered


	5. Arrival at Drum Kingdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew reach Drum Kingdom and learn about the only doctor there.

Usopp quickly started the repairs on Merry, Drake sitting next to him to give him the plates of metal he needed as he demanded them, part of him feeling guilty that the ship had taken damages from Wapol despite him knowing how his powers worked. The others went back to their occupation, which was either checking on Nami or looking around for an island. Less than an hour later, the repairs mainly finished, Sanji shouted “Land ho !”

“Wooh, so white !” Exclaimed Luffy. “So that’s what a winter island looks like. I hope there’s enough snow to play in, I love snow, it’s so white…” He continued, ignoring Sanji’s warning about avoiding trouble to find a doctor for Nami. They entered a river that continued into the island, looking in awe at the strange form of the mountains around them.

“So, who’s going to look for a doctor and who’s staying on the ship ?” Asked Zoro.

“I’ll go !” Exclaimed immediately Luffy.

“Me too.” Said Sanji, ever ready to help a little in distress.

“Sure, you guys go.” Said Usopp. He wasn’t used to cold, the climate on his island had been moderate, and while it had often snowed during the winters, there had never been layers of snow like here.

“I’d like to go with you. I’ve never been to Drum, and I’m curious about why its king was around playing pirate, without a way to come back.” Said Drake.

Their discussion was interrupted by a shout from the island. “Stop right there, pirates ! You will turn around immediately, and leave this island at once.” Shouted a man. He was surrounded by other people carrying weapons and pointing them at the ship.

“Wait, we’ve come here for a doctor.” Said Luffy.

“We have a sick person on board.” Added Vivi.

“Those lies won’t work on us, pirate scum ! This is _our_ country, and we won’t let any pirates ruin it ! Now leave, or we will make you leave.”

“Talk about bad first impressions…” Said Sanji, clearly not impressed.

“Don’t talk back on us !” Shouted one of the trigger-happy villagers, before trying to shoot Sanji, who barely avoided being hit by the bullet.

“Now you’re making me angry…” Sanji said, his dark glare making the villager panic and causing him to shoot one again.

“Sanji, no !” Shouted Vivi, jumping in front of him to prevent him from attacking the villagers, and putting herself into the path of the bullet. It hit her shoulder, sending her sprawling on the ground.

“Vivi !” Shouted Luffy, and everyone on board prepared themselves to avenge their hurt friend. “How _DARE_ you !” He shouted. The villagers all pointed their gun at the pirate, but before anyone could act Vivi threw herself once again between the crew and the villagers.

“Wait, Luffy ! You can’t fight them.” She protested, her eyes wide. “The bullet barely grazed me, don’t worry.” She took a step closer to him, her unharmed arm coming to rest lightly against his chest to prevent him from moving forward in his attack. She whirled around, facing the armed civilians that were watching them, their posture hostile. “Please, I beg of you, we promise we won’t set foot on your country, we just need you to call a doctor.” She let herself fall to her knees and bowed low, her head touching the ground. “Our friend is ill, please, we need your help !”

“Vivi…” Whispered Luffy.

“It’s your duty as a Captain to take care of your crew.” Said Vivi harshly. “You can’t help Nami right now by fighting anyone.”

Luffy watched for a few seconds, before turning to face the villagers, an unusually serious expression on his face.

“Sorry.” He said calmly, dropping to his knees right next to Vivi and bowing until his head touched the floor. “We’re only asking for a doctor. Please, save our friend.” 

The villagers watched, unable to decide how to act now that the pirates weren’t hostile. Drake also watched, pleased at the development. His instinct had told him to trust the captain, and he had learned to listen to his instinct since the last year spent on Little Island had reconnected him with his more primal side. Seeing him willing to put his pride aside for the safety of his crew… Well, let's just say that he didn’t know that many people willing to put their men before themselves.

“We’ll lead you to our town.” Said one of the villagers the closest to the ship. “Follow me. Let me give you one warning beforehand though. There is only one doctor in our country… And she happens to be a witch.”

~~One Piece~~

“So, what is this country called ?” Asked awkwardly Vivi, trying to start a conversation with their guide that had introduced himself as Dalton. Most of the crew had decided to come, Luffy, Sanji, and Drake to bring Nami to the doctor, Vivi to serve as a diplomat between the crew and the villagers as well as to get her arm looked at at Dalton’s house. Ussop came with them at Sanji’s insistence that Vivi shouldn’t be left alone in a strange village, leaving Zoro and Karoo to keep watch on the ship

“It doesn’t have a name yet.” Answered Dalton.

“How is that possible ?” Asked Vivi, surprised. Drake stayed silent. He was quite sure that Dalton had been one of Wapols guards, even if the man hadn’t brought much attention to himself and had been quite discreet the time he had seen him at the Reverie. Given what they had seen earlier, he could hazard a guess that the habitants had overthrown Wapol and taken back the control of their country. It would also explain their fear of pirates, given Wapol’s new occupation. 

“The previous name no longer fit us. We hadn’t had the time to choose a new one.”

“Does this country have any professional soldiers ?” Asked Vivi. They had seen a few people holding weapons, but they were all clearly civilians.

“No, they’re all normal civilians.”

It made Drake wonder how the previous king could have lost, given that all the soldiers had been on his side. He had quite the army on his ship, and he couldn’t have been evicted from his country easily. 

“Here we are, this is my house. You can put your friend on the bed over there.” Offered Dalton. “I’ll go heat up the room, the cold can’t be good for her.” It took him a few minutes to get a fire going, the others fussing over Nami in the meantime. “I feel that I’ve seen you before somewhere… Did we meet ?” He asked Vivi after staring at her for a few seconds.

Drake almost snorted at that. Drum and Alabasta were close enough that they should be aware of each other’s government, in case a conflict happened. Although, given the difference of climate between the two countries, one being on a winter island and the other a summer island, he didn’t think they had much interest in invading each other. Dalton had acted as the main commander of Drum Kingdom’s military force, if he remembered correctly, so he must have paid special attention to other world leaders, but the last Reverie had happened two years ago, and Vivi had still been a child, not involved in politics like the leaders were. It wasn’t surprising that he couldn’t exactly remember her.

“You must be imagining things, I’ve never met you before.” Said panickedly Vivi, before trying to redirect the conversation. “More importantly, could you please tell us more about this doctor ? Nami’s fever has been rising steadily for three days, and we don’t know the cause of her disease nor how to treat it. Why did you call her a witch ?”

“It doesn’t matter if the doctor is a witch if she can cure Nami !” Exclaimed Sanji. “Can you tell us where she lives ?”

“You can see mountains from the windows.” Started Dalton. “They are called the Drum Rockies. There is a castle at the top of the tallest one, and Dr. Kureha, the only doctor in this entire country, lives in that very castle.”

“What ? Of all the places to be....” Muttered Sanji. “Well, better call her, this is an emergency.”

“As much as I’d like to, there is no way to contact her.”

“What ? And she calls herself a doctor ? What the hell is this woman ? What do the people of this country do when they’re sick or injured ?” Asked Sanji.

“She comes down from the mountain whenever she feels like it.” Explained Dalton. “She finds patients, treats them, and then she takes anything she wants from their homes as payment.” He added, to Ussop’s indignation. “In any case, I’m afraid that the only thing you can do is wait until she comes down.”

“How can there be only one doctor in an entire country ?” Asked Sanji angrily, before turning to face Luffy who went to wake up Nami.

“Hey, Nami ! Listen, we can’t get a doctor unless we go up a mountain.” He explained. “So we’ll go hiking.”

“Are you crazy ?” Asked Sanji. “Just what are you trying to put her through ?”

“It’ll be fine, I’ll be carrying her.” Said Luffy calmly.

“You’ll have to be careful then.” Said Drake, cutting through Vivi and Sanji’s protest. “You can’t afford to fall, and you will not be able to fight or even move too roughly less she gets even more hurt. Her body is very weak right now.”

“I’ll leave it to you then, Luffy.” Said Nami in a pant. She was clearly not getting better, and Drake wondered if she wasn’t already delirious. She wasn’t healthy enough to consent to this plan, but if they didn’t do anything then she would definitely die. It showed though that even in her state, her trust in her crewmates was absolute.

“Alright, I’ll be coming along too.” Said Sanji determinedly, Drake nodding his assent. 

The preparations for their journey were quickly done, Vivi strapping Nami tightly to Luffy’s back. “Usopp and I will stay behind, we would only drag you down if we came along.” She said.

“If you’re serious about this, you should at least climb from the other side. The route on this side is full of Lapins, a type of violent and carnivorous rabbit. You won’t be able to escape alive.” Warned Dalton.

“Don’t worry about it. There are bigger predators than rabbits out there.” Drake said with a toothy smile.

The trio then started running toward the mountain, leaving behind the town and the rest of their crew. They advanced quickly, not impeded by the snow, Drake listening with a small, private smile as Luffy and Sanji bantered. He hadn’t had contact with anyone other than the Giants for more than a year, and even then they barely interacted with each other. He had missed this, being around other human beings.

They ignored the small creature that tried to attack them, at least until Sanji kicked it and sent it flying. “What’s up with that rabbit ?” Asked Luffy, bewildered, earning shrugs from the others.

The snow was rapidly becoming thicker under their feet, and the wind picked up. They suddenly could see figures through the snow before them. “What are these things ?” Asked Sanji.

“They’re white and big, so they gotta be polar bears.” Answered Luffy.

“Whatever it is, it’s definitely a predator.” Said Drake, his instinct telling him that the beast in front of them wasn’t prey. “Get back !” He said sharply, his haki warning him of the incoming attack just as the beast jumped above them, its sharp claw slicing the snow where they were standing just a second before.

“These must be the Lapin that Dalton was talking about.” Said Sanji. “There’s so many of them.” He shouted, as the blizzard thinned up just enough to reveal rows upon rows of Lapins.

“Luffy, you have to avoid fighting.” Said Drake. “Even if you don’t feel anything when you give a hit, Nami isn’t made of rubber and she will feel the aftershock.”

“Got it. I swear not to fight.” Said Luffy seriously, his teeth clenched.

“Just dodge, okay ? Dodge and run away. We will keep them away from you with Drake, move forward as smoothly as you can.” Advised Sanji, kicking a Lapin that was getting too close to Luffy. He managed to kick it away, but the beast didn’t fly as far as he wanted.

“Dammit, I can’t make them back up enough.” He complained as a dozen Lapin jumped through the air, attacking them all at once.

“I’ll cover you, you both run !” Shouted Drake, before he shifted to his full allosaurus form. Sanji looked at him in shock for a second, as he hadn’t seen him use his devil fruit before. They had talked about it, but he hadn’t shifted on the Merry, his form too big for the small boat. He then turned around and followed Luffy, both of them running away.

Most of the Lapin crashed into Drake’s body as he put himself between them and his crewmates, his tail and teeth catching most of the ones that had moved to avoid him, only a couple getting past him. Sanji managed to kick them away without difficulties, and Drake turned sharply on himself, his tail sending flying the Lapins that were trying to attack him. He transformed back into his human form as soon as they were all pushed back, and ran to get back to his crewmate’s level and assist them in case the Lapins managed to catch up.

~~One Piece~~

The Lapin didn’t just manage to catch up, but to get ahead of them. They watched worriedly the small army in front of them, some showing clear foot or claw marks indicating that they had already faced Drake of Sanji before.

“What are they doing ?” Asked Drake as they started to jump without advancing.

Sanji understood half a second before Drake, his face becoming totally white in shock. “It can’t be…” He whispered.

“Are they trying to start…” Said the zoan, just as shocked.

“What is it, Sanji, Drake ?” Asked Luffy.

“RUN !” Shouted Sanji. “They are trying to trigger an avalanche !” The snow that the Lapin had displaced finally lost its fight against gravity, and a huge wave of snow started running down the side of the mountain, the four pirates right in its path.


	6. Falling Down And Climbing Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy, Nami, Drake and Sanji have a hard time reaching Drum Kingdom’s doctor. Especially when some of them get hurt in the avalanche, and need to be carried up a mountain.

“What do we do ?” Shouted Luffy as they started to run, his eyes wide as he looked at the avalanche behind them.

“I don’t know ! But whatever we do we must protect Nami !” Answered Sanji.

“Don’t run straight down the mountain.” Shouted Drake. “We won’t be able to outrun it, we need to try to get out of its path !”

Sanji’s eyes were desperately looking everywhere, trying to find somewhere safe. He knew that outrunning an avalanche wasn’t possible, but they might be able to hide from it. “There’s a cliff up there, it might be high enough.” He shouted, pointing toward a small cliff ahead of them.

“We can’t be sure, and we don’t have the time to try.” Said Drake, feeling the rumble of the avalanche just behind him and the snow start to hit the back of his legs.

“Hold on !” Shouted Luffy, both of his arms extending, one to grip the highest tree that he could see, the other passing in front of Sanji and Drake, letting the both of them grab onto it and sending all them hurling toward the tree. Sanji and Drake released his arm at the last second, just in time to grab the tree without crashing into him and Nami.

“It won’t last long.” Said Sanji . The smaller trees around them were getting unrooted by the avalanche. The one they were grabbing managed to resist for a few more seconds, before it too was unrooted.

Fortunately, it meant that the most destructive force of the avalanche, its front, was already ahead of them, and they managed to hold onto the tree as it rested on top of the snow wave.

“We’re going down !” Cried Luffy as they started to down the slope. It barely took them a few seconds to travel dozen of meters.

“We’re going to crash.” Said Sanji worriedly. The avalanche was hurling them toward a large rock, tall enough to be seen atop the snow, and they had no way to change their path away from it. The impact would be harsh, and while it wouldn’t kill the three of them, there was no way he was getting Nami jostled.

Sanji and Drake shared a look of understanding. Getting on the rock would be their best way to stay safe while waiting for the avalanche to run out, but Luffy couldn’t be the one that grabbed onto it, because it would be harsh on Nami’s body.

They needed to get him on top of the rock, which meant they would need to stop their momentum in a way that wouldn’t involve Luffy.

Drake shifted into his full form and grabbed Luffy around the torso, making sure that his claws didn’t come too close to Nami. Worse came to worse, they would pierce Luffy’s skin if he clenched his transformed hand too tight, but it wouldn’t hurt much the teenager.

“We’re getting on the rock.” Explained Sanji as Drake jumped up, rising just high enough for Sanji to put his leg between him and the tree. Just as he landed on the leg, Sanji sent a powerful kick up in the air. Drake stopped moving forward, the kick sending him flying with just enough angle that he wouldn’t fall back into the snow. He managed to grab Sanji with his tail at the last second, and angled his body to fall toward the rock.

He barely missed it with his free claw. He opened his mouth, his teeth scraping the stone as their longer reach allowed him to slow down his fall. Luffy immediately reached for the rock, managing to grab it just as Drake release his torso and fell back into the avalanche, his teeth making a screeching sound as he tried to hold on for as long as possible.

He fell back first into the snow, swinging his tail forward and curling his body around Sanji in an attempt to protect him from harm.

“Sanji ! Drake !” Shouted desperately Luffy, watching them disappear in the snow before he could do anything to grab them.

His fingers flexed against the rock, and he forced himself to climb it up. He needed to take Nami somewhere safe, and the avalanche was slowing down around him, so she should be fine there. He didn’t want to leave her alone, but he wasn’t going to abandon his friends here, and the layer of snow left behind by the avalanche was tall enough that he couldn’t jump down if he kept her strapped to his back.

He loosened the binds attaching her to his back and put her gently against the rock. Her face was flushed, both from the cold outside and her own body temperature that was too high, and he didn’t want her health degrading now that his body heat wasn’t warming her. He removed his coat and draped it over Nami’s body, before putting his straw hat on her belly, with her hand on the top to make sure that it wouldn’t fly away. That way, if she woke up she would know that they hadn’t left her behind.

He jumped on the snow below him, immediately noticing that he had underestimated its height. The snow almost reached his shoulders, but he forced himself to move through it, willing his body not to feel the cold.

“Sanji, Drake !” He shouted, hoping that they would answer, his head snapping from side to side trying to see them.

He moved diagonally down the mountain for a few minutes, not wanting to miss them because he was going straight. He knew he couldn’t let Nami alone for too long, but he wasn’t willing to leave behind either of his crewmates.

Snow suddenly moved somewhere on his right, and he could hear a faint “Luffy” coming from there.

“Sanji, Drake, I’m here !” He repeated, trying to pinpoint exactly where the other two were. He finally saw a dark blue cloth, and tugged on it, freeing both Sanji and Drake from the snow. “Are you okay ?”

“I tried to shield him from most of the damage, but I took a hard hit and lost consciousness for a few seconds. I reverted to my human form toward the end.” Drake explained, looking over Sanji. “Hey, Sanji, can you hear me ?” He asked, slowly turning his body around. “He has been hit on the head too, probably is unconscious…” He said, his hand lightly touching Sanji’s head where blood was cowering his hair.

“Are you good enough to walk ?” Asked Luffy. “I can lift Sanji, but I don’t think I will be able to carry the both of you and keep Nami safe on my back.” He explained.

“Don’t worry about me, I’m resilient.” Answered Drake. “I can take Sanji on my back, and give him to you if we need to fight again.”

He got to his feet and tried to remove his leather coat, grimacing when his left arm protested the movement.

“Here, let me.” Said Luffy, helping him remove it without having to move his arm toward his back. “You’re hurt there ?”

“It’s okay.” He slowly moved his arm, checking his range of movement. “As long as I don’t have to move it too far back it doesn’t hurt too much.” Luffy helped him tie the sleeves of his coat around his chest to secure Sanji on his back.

“You won’t be too cold ? You’re not wearing a shirt…” Asked Luffy.

“I’ll be fine.”

Luffy frowned slightly at that, not convinced, but decided to drop the topic. “We got down quite a bit.” He sighed, looking at the mountain ahead of them as he walked back to where he had left Nami.

They started walking again, more slowly this time, toward the mountain, when suddenly a shout attracted their attention. “Look, Lord Wapol !” Shouted someone from behind them.

Luffy and Drake looked at each other, understanding passing between them. Drake’s hand went to his coat, loosening the knot enough for Luffy to be able to take Sanji from him without problems.

“You have insulted me one too many times.” Said Wapol from the top of his White Walky, his two acolytes sitting next to them.

“Get out of my way.” Ordered sharply Luffy as he grabbed Sanji from Drake.

The zoan didn’t wait for the trio to attack them, grabbing his four-bladed axe as well as his sword and bringing them down sharply on the White Walky, making sure they wouldn’t be able to follow Luffy. They fell down into the snow and Drake barely let them the time to understand what had happened before he jumped on top of Wapol and bashed his newly-reconstructed jaw with his axe. The two weirdly-dressed men that followed Wapol quickly moved to get their king away from Drake, and the zoan went back to Luffy’s side, taking back Sanji from him.

They both progressed through the snow, their strength slowly waning, the cold getting to them after they sacrificed their coat to help keep their charge warm and safe. The snowstorm around them had picked up, and they couldn’t see more than a few meters ahead. They were both surprised when they suddenly encountered the side of the strange mountain where the castle was located.

“I can’t even see the top.” Whispered Luffy. Where others would have been desperate, Drake could only hear the conviction in his voice, as the young man ditched his sandals and tried to find a solid grip on the rock.

“Do you want my gloves ?” Offered Drake. “I’ll use my hybrid form that gives me claws instead of fingers to climb up, so they won’t serve me. It would protect your hands.”

“They’ll be too big for me.” Objected Luffy. “I can’t risk falling down.”

Drake tore the tip of the fingers off the glove with his teeth, before offering them once again to the captain. “There. You won’t lose any sensitivity that way, and your hands will be at least a little protected.”

Luffy accepted them with a smile and a thank you, before they both started the climb.

Despite the gloves, the cold was biting. He quickly lost all feeling in his fingertips, but continued to climb without complaining. He quickly glanced back toward Drake, but his crewmate’s hands were covered in scales and he didn’t seem to have a problem finding a grip on the mountain.

They climbed in silence for about ten minutes, Drake growing more and more worried as he heard his captain’s lungs start to make a small whistling sound at each breath, until he could no longer keep quiet. “I can grab Nami from you for a minute if you need to rest.” He offered.

“It isn’t safe…” Panted Luffy. “We can’t risk her falling. I can do it.” He added determinedly.

Drake accepted it with a worried frown. He didn’t want to imply that his captain was too weak for this, which he would be doing if he insisted. And Luffy hadn’t been wrong, detaching Nami from his back was too risky. Still, he didn’t want to imagine the pain the teenager was in. Since he had removed his jacket to tie Sanji, his upper body was uncovered, but scales covered most of his arms in this form, and they protected him both from the cold and from the harsh grip he had to keep on the mountain. He could still feel the bite of the cold on his torso and through the scales, even if Sanji’s body at his back protected him from the worst of the wind. He could see how cold Luffy’s fingers were, his gloves barely offering his hands protection and his fingers had already turned blue.

The climb would have been easier if he had been able to use armament haki, but the hit to the head he had taken earlier had rattled him more than he wanted to admit and prevented him from focusing enough to use it. Luckily his shoulder wasn’t bothering him too much, and he managed to climb without having to raise his left elbow higher than shoulder level most of the time.

However, he wasn’t sure that he would be able to maintain his hybrid form long enough for them to reach the top of the mountain. His head was hurting more by the minute, and preventing his scales from disappearing took a surprising amount of focus. It had been why he had attacked Wapol quickly and without transforming into his full form. He didn’t want to faint again and force Luffy to carry the three of them. From what he had seen of his captain’s determination, he would do it or die trying.

They went back to climbing, what felt like hours passing in silence, the only sound around them the howl of the wind and their hard breaths. Luffy almost slipped a few times but always managed to get his grip back before Drake had the time to react. His fingers were torn and he was leaving small droplets of blood behind each time he moved his hands. Drake was just happy that his claws hadn’t failed him yet. They were climbing mechanically, their eyes only focused on trying to find another protuberance to cling to.

Which was why it took Drake a few seconds to understand what he had seen when the snow thinned for a second. “I… I think I can see the top.”

Luffy turned his head to look at him, blinking for few seconds before what Drake said finally registered. His eyes turned back to look at the top, and he took a deep breath, before starting to climb with renewed fervor.

When Drake felt soft snow beneath his claws, he almost cried in relief. He barely managed to lift his weight one last time and let himself fall face-first on the ground, his head turned to the side to check that Luffy managed to reach the top too. Luffy somehow landed on his knees next to him, and didn’t immediately fall down. “We’re here.” Whispered Luffy, the barest hint of a smile appearing on his tired face. A shadow suddenly fell upon them, and he saw a creature standing over them. “A doctor.” Luffy said, his gaze locking onto the creature's eyes. “Please, my friends need a doctor.” He added, before his strength failed him and he fell on the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, but the next ones will be longer (at least 3k words)


	7. The Small Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew wakes up in a castle where they met the doctor that helped them. Luffy befriends another Zoan.

Drake slowly came awake, his body staying naturally still until he could get his bearing. He cracked open an eye, and looked at the stone ceiling above him. Loud snores coming from his right finally made him remember the situation they were in, and he turned his head, watching Luffy and Sanji sleeping peacefully on beds next to him.

_We’ve found the doctor then._ He thought to himself. He couldn’t see Nami in the room, and slowly made his haki come back online, expending it until he could feel everyone in the castle. Nami’s presence still felt slightly weak but it was way better than what he could feel from her before, and meant that the doctor had been successful in helping her. Speaking of doctors, he could feel two other presence in the castle. One was clearly human, and while he wouldn’t call it strong, it was still stronger than everyone on this island except Dalton. The other presence felt strange. He couldn’t really call it human, but it was definitely more than animal. It reminded him of the awakened zoan that had lost their human form, a strange mix between animal and human.

Movement from Sanji’s bed attracted his attention, and he saw the blond slowly sit up.

“How are you feeling ?” He asked.

“I’m fine.” Answered automatically Sanji. “What happened ?”

“What’s the last thing you remember ?” He countered.

“You and me both getting caught up in the avalanche.”

“I got hit and shifted back to my human form.” Explained Drake. “You got hit on the head and lost consciousness. Luffy and I managed to get both you and Nami up the mountain and to a doctor.”

“Nami ! Do you know how she is ?” Asked Sanji panickedly.

“I can sense her, she’s fine. Definitely better than before, we did well getting her to a doctor.” Reassured Drake.

A strange creature then entered their room, and cried out in surprise when he saw them both awake. It ran back to the corridor outside the room, hiding strangely behind the door, most of its body still visible.

“We can still see you.” Said Sanji.

The creature’s eyes opened wide in shock, before it hid again, this time the right way.

“What are you ?” Asked Drake. “Are you a zoan ?”

“Sh-shut up human !” It shouted. “How are you both feeling ?” It added more calmly.

Sanji's eyes opened wide hearing it talks. “Have you eaten a Devil Fruit ? I definitely feel better, are you the one that treated us ?”

It slowly approached them, seeing that they weren’t reacting violently to its presence. “Yes, I treated you. You both had minor frostbite, and took nasty hits to the head. Your friends were in the worse condition though.” It said, ignoring the rest of the questions, and approaching Drake to flex his finger and see if they were still working normally.

“I can smell that you’re a user.” Said Drake. “You also can, right ? You’re some kind of reindeer, you must have a sensitive nose.”

The reindeer watched him for a few seconds, before nodding. “My name’s Tony Tony Chopper. I’m a reindeer that ate the Human-Human fruit. What kind of zoan are you ? I’ve never met an animal that smelled like you.”

“I’m a dinosaur, an allosaurus.” Explained Drake,

Chopper’s eyes widened at that, a look of wonder and excitement appearing on his face. “That’s so cool !” He shouted.

Drake felt a smile tug at his face. “Did you also treat the girl that was with us ?” He asked.

“I helped Doctorine, the doctor that lives here, treat her. She was really sick.” He said shyly. “But now she’s cured.”

“That’s good, thank you.” Said Sanji.

Further conversation was made impossible by Luffy who suddenly sat up, a shout of “MEAT !” escaping him. His face turned to look at Chopper, and drool appeared at the corner of his lips. “Meat !” He repeated, shooting out of his bed and approaching the reindeer, that suddenly started to run away, Luffy following him running out of the room.

“This guy…” Sighed Sanji, patting his clothes and getting his pack of smokes out.

Drake just nodded, before checking with his haki that nobody was near - Luffy and Chopper were running further away from them, and Nami and the other person, probably the Doctorine Chopper had talked about, were in the same room away from them. “So.” He started, his attention focussing back on Sanji. “You were quick to identify the avalanche.” He said, watching the slightest hint of tension appear on Sanji’s shoulder.

“You understood what the Lapin’s were doing just as fast.” Sanji countered, neither his face nor his voice giving away how tense he was. His posture had relaxed almost immediatly, and he was sitting casually on his bed, a huff of smoke coming out of his cigarette.

“Sure, but I’ve already seen avalanches. I’m from the North Blue after all.” Said Drake. And bingo. The tension returned, Sanji clearly understanding where he was going. “Zoro told me that your crew formed in the East.” He revealed, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning on the headboard of his bed, showing through his posture that he wasn’t threatening the blonde. Yet. “I didn’t think anything of it at first, but those eyebrows are pretty distinctive, especially for someone that lived in the North…” He trailed off, watching Sanji closely.

“What do you want.” Said Sanji coldly, no longer bothering to act casual.

“It depends. I’m starting to like Luffy, and I certainly respect him as a captain. It’s worrying to think that one of the core members of the crew might just be infiltrating it.” He answered, his cold blue eyes meeting Sanji’s gray one.

“I’m not !” Said Sanji, and his anger was genuine, Drake could feel. “I don’t have anything to do with the rest of my… Family. I ran away from them when I was a child, and I plan never to have anything to do with them again.” He explained.

“Do you really ?”

“I’ve been living in the East for more than ten years.” Said Sanji. “You can ask the rest of the crew, we’ve met a the restaurant I had been working for all those years. I’m not one of _them_.”

The way he had spat out the last word removed any doubt from Drake’s mind that the cook was lying to him. You couldn’t fake this kind of hatred, and he knew very well what it was to hate your family. Given Vinsmoke Judge’s reputation ? It wasn’t a surprise that his son hated him. Although, from what he could remember, Sanji must have siblings. He didn’t really pay attention to the Vinsmoke family, since Germa 66 wasn’t officially a kingdom and didn’t have a place at the Reverie.

It was good to know that he no longer had contacts with his family, because the Vinsmokes had a reputation for playing dirty. He didn’t have any doubt that he and Luffy would win a fight against them if it came to it, but they wouldn’t fight fair. They would poison the crew, push people they trusted into backstabbing them… To know that Sanji wasn’t about to attract their attention was relieving.

He let himself slide down a little against the bed, his posture relaxing even more, and Sanji sighed quietly when he saw that Drake no longer was attacking him.

“So… Did you read Sora Warrior of the Sea ?” Asked Drake, a small smile on his lips.

Sanji huffed a breath. “Sure. I reached the East Blue before the end of the first part of the series, and you can’t imagine how much I struggled to get the last chapters.” He said in a long-suffering tone. “And nobody in the East was interested in it, so I had no one to complain to about how much _bullshit_ was Sora sacrificing himself by jumping into the sea to-”

A crash interrupted their conversation, Luffy coming flying inside the room, a definitely bigger Chopper following him. “I am not your food !” The reindeer shouted.

“It talked !” Shouted back Luffy, stars in his eyes.

“I’ve been talking the whole time !” Shouted Chopper.

Drake sighed, seeing the two start to argue. “Luffy, please, don’t try to eat the man that healed us.”

“You did ?” Asked Luffy. “Wow, you’re a talking tanuki with a blue noise and you’re a doctor… JOIN MY CREW !” He shouted.

“I’m a reindeer !” Answered Chopper, before turning around and seeing Nami in the hallway putting her head through the door to look at them. “Hey, you’re supposed to rest.” He said.

“But I’m cold.” Complained Nami with a pout. “Hey boys.” She said with a blinding smile, causing Sanji and Drake to blush.

Chopper went to admonish her about being up, but he suddenly froze, his nose twitching. “This smell… Wapol is here !” He shouted, running out of the room.

The Straw Hats all looked at each other, before the men jumped to their feet. “Nami, stay here.” Ordered Luffy.

They followed the path that Chopper had taken, the reindeer having been fast enough that they could no longer see him. They reached the entrance of the castle in time to see one of Wapol’s followers point a bow at Chopper.

Luffy frowned at seeing his blue-nosed-tanuki-doctor being threatened, especially by the men who had hurt Merry and had tried to prevent him from climbing up the mountain to save Nami. “I haven’t had the opportunity to hit you the last two times.” He said sharply, cocking his arm back. “And I’m tired of you messing with my friends ! **Gum Gum Bullet !** ” He shouted as his fist smashed right between Wapol’s eyes.

Wapol’s almost flew over the edge of the mountain, his follower catching him at the last second.

“You ate my ship, and you tried to stop us from reaching a doctor… I won’t let you get away with everything you’ve done to us !” 

“How dare you hurt lord Wapol, the righteous king of Drum Kingdom ?” “How dare you fight against the king ?” Shouted his two followers at the same time.

“Him, a king ?” Scoffed Drake. “He’s more of a disgrace.”

“I don’t care who you are.” Added Luffy. “I just know that I hate you.”

“Aaaah !” Shouted angrily Wapol. “You really made me mad ! I will eat you all !” He started to open his mouth wide, the indent from Drake’s axe still visible on his jaw despite it having been fixed sometime between their last meeting and now.

“You want to fight him ?” Drake asked Luffy, who nodded. “Then we’ll take care of his two followers. You should get back inside to get a jacket before you catch a cold, we will have them beat by then.” He said, as Chopper shifted into his larger form.

“I’m Kuromarimo, and this is Chess.” Introduced one of Wapol’s followers. As if they cared. “And we’ll be getting back our king’s castle on your corpses ! **Komarimostatic !** ” He shouted as he sent a ball hurtling toward them. Sanji used one of his legs to stop it, which, really, was a bad move since he had no idea what the ball could be. It proved to be a bad idea when he couldn’t remove it from his leg. Kuromarimo started to send more of those static balls toward them, Drake avoiding them while Sanji and Chopper got hit.

“Just stick them on the walls.” Said Drake, watching unamusedly Sanji and Chopper try to stick the balls on each other. His haki warned him about another wave of projectiles coming toward his two distracted comrades. “Are you planning to do anything about these guys, or should we wait for Luffy to come back and do everything ?”

Sanji immediately got rid of the static balls by using the closest wall and twisted to avoid those that Kuromarimo was sending toward him. He ran toward Chess and in one powerful kick sent him right into Wapol’s open mouth, the king trying to eat Chopper from behind while the reindeer was distracted attacking Kuromarimo. The impact was strong enough that the he skidded a few meters against the ground, and Kuromarimo gaped at seeing his king get moved that easily. Chopper used his distracted state to grab him, and followed Sanji’s example by sending him flying into Wapol’s still open mouth as well, though it was more like lobbing him since the king had fallen on his back.

“You just allowed me to use my most powerful attack !” Shouted Wapol as he struggled to get back on his feet. “I just created the strongest fighter of Drum Kingdom… Chessmarimo !”

“They’re just seated one on top of the other.” Sweatdropped Sanji.

“I don’t even want to know what they are trying to do.” Said Drake.

The newly named Chessmarimo charged at them, and Drake shifted into his allosaurus form. It was getting tiring to deal with them, it was cold outside, and he’d rather be free to watch Luffy defeat the false king rather than have to deal with those two weaklings. His teeth closed on them both at the same time, and in what was starting to become his most used move in fights, he clamped his jaw shut. Luffy might have called dibs on Wapol, but nobody could prevent him from ending this fight right now.

The taste of blood filled his mouth, and he jerked his head from side to side a few times to ensure that they wouldn’t get up. Their multiple layers of clothes were protecting them a little, but his teeth were sharp enough to break through them. Still, he’d rather not kill anyone, so he wouldn’t clench his jaw to break their spine like he had done to Mr. 5, because it would risk his teeth sinking too deep into their body and hitting something vital.

This way, they would only die if they tried to move and bled out.

“And I just defeated your strongest fighter. What does that say about my strength ?” He taunted Wapol. “You’re lucky we’re waiting for Luffy to show up, or we would have found out which one of us can bite the strongest.” He added with a bloody grin.

“I’m back !” Shouted Luffy as he came back out of the castle, wearing Nami’s jacket.

Drake changed back into his human form and pointed toward Wapol. “He’s all yours.”

“Great.” Answered Luffy with a grin. “This won’t take long at all.” He said, sending both his arms behind him. “ **Gum Gum Bazooka !** ” He shouted, his arms coming back at incredible speed, hitting Wapol right in the middle of his chest, sending him flying. However, this time there was no one to prevent him from passing over the edge of the mountain, and he flew away, disappearing in the sky.

“You might have sent him far enough that he fell into the water.” Noted Drake, impressed. He had already seen Luffy’s determination and endurance, but this showed that he possessed a real strength behind his attacks. The captain was definitely strong enough to hurt him despite his scales if they decided to seriously spar one day.

Darke then turned his attention to the mountain’s side. He had felt sometime during the fight, if it could even be called a fight, that there were people approaching but they were far enough that he hadn’t cared too much. Now though, they were close enough that he could recognize presences he had gotten used to in the last days. “Oi, Luffy, the others are coming up.” He warned.

“Really ? How can you tell ?” Asked Luffy.

“It’s something called haki. I will start teaching you all once we get back to the ship, but it takes time to learn, so you will not have unlocked it by the time we reach Alabasta.” He warned. “One of the different types allows me to sense the presence of other people, so I can tell that people are coming from over there, and I recognized the crew.” He explained.

“Oh, yeah, I can see some weird cabin coming toward us.” Agreed Luffy after having walked to the edge of the mountain. They all waited until the cabin reached them, Luffy jumping on Zoro as soon as he got out of the cabin. “Zoro !” He shouted happily. “Usopp, Vivi ! What was that thing that you used to get here ?”

“That was a lift.” Started to explain Vivi. “Did you manage to find a doctor ? Is Nami okay ?”

“Yes, everyone’s fine.” Said Luffy with a smile.

“We saw Nami not too long ago.” Added Sanji. “She was walking and looked better.”

“Wapol attacked our town and said he would get up here, did you see him ?” Asked Dalton warily.

“Oh sure, we totally kicked his ass. Sent him flying toward the sea.” Explained Luffy.

“And the other two ?” Asked Dalton.

“They’re over there.” Said Drake. “They should be alive if they receive treatment, but you can let them bleed to death if that’s what you want.” Dalton looked conflicted at that, looking at the blood surrounding Chess and Kuromarimo.

“They’ll probably leave the country to look after Wapol.” He finally decided. “The 20 Doctors are still in the town down there, we can bring those two to them.”

“Oh, we got a new crew member !” Luffy shouted, turning to look for Chopper. “He’s a reindeer that can talk, and he’s a doctor too ! And he got a nice hat.” He added happily.

“Is that him ?” Asked Zoro, pointing toward the small reindeer ‘hiding’ behind a tree.

“Yup !” Luffy said, ignoring the panic of the villagers around them. “Come on Chopper, I want you to meet the crew !” He said, grabbing a frightened Usopp with one hand and starting to walk toward Chopper, Zoro and Vivi following behind.

“Hi.” Said Vivi, crouching next to him. “So you’re a doctor ? Are you the one that treated Nami ?”

Chopper nodded shyly at that, and Vivi gave him a beaming smile.

“Then thank you !”

“Shut up !” Shouted Chopper, making everyone except Luffy, who only blinked, flinch in surprise. “Your thanks don’t make me happy at all.” He then added, his words contrasting with the happy dance he was making.

“You really don’t know how to take a compliment.” Commented Usopp.

“And I can’t join your crew.” Said Chopper, turning toward Luffy. “I’m a reindeer, and I can talk, and I have a blue nose… I’m not human, I’m a monster !” He added angrily. “And a monster can’t be friends with humans !”

“Then it’s good none of us really are human, right ?” Said Luffy with a smile. “I’m rubber, Drake can transform into a dinosaur, Zoro was called a demon in East Blue, Nami is really scary… All of us are monsters in our own way, so you’re fitting right in.” He explained calmly. “I think you’re really cool, so come with us !” He shouted.

Chopper just watched him, tear in his eyes, before nodding. “Ok !” He said shyly.

~~One Piece~~

Understandably, when they went back inside to tell Nami that they were leaving and that Chopper was their new crew member, Doctor Kureha, who was in the process of yelling at Nami because she was out of her bed, became suddenly angrier. Drake had to avoid a sloppily thrown knife, which indicated that Kureha wasn’t really trying to kill him, but was still making her displeasure rather clear.

“I don’t think so !” She snapped. “As I already told this young woman, she is my patient, and I won’t let her leave until I’m sure that she is better, which will take a week. You still haven’t paid for my services, and now you’re telling me that you are going to steal my assistant… I won’t let you !” She said angrily.

“Your patient ?” Asked Drake, a sly smile appearing on his face. “It’s funny, that. Chopper just recently told us that he was the one that treated Nami… Are you saying that he lied to us ?”

Kureha frowned at him, sensing the manipulation coming but not wanting to disparage her assistant like that.

“He is the one that treated her, but she will still need to have a follow up-”

“And Chopper will be able to observe her and keep track of her health once they are both on our ship.” He interrupted. “And since you just admitted that he is the one that treated her, shouldn’t we discuss the matter of payment with him, instead of with you ?”

Kureha went to cut in, but he talked over her. “After all, he seems like someone intelligent enough to make his own choices, and he _chose_ to leave with us, shouldn’t you acknowledge his decision and support him ?” He saw that Kureha still looked angry, and his voice softened. “I’m just trying to take care of him, I don’t want him to leave here thinking you disapprove. Because he will be leaving with us, and you won’t be able to do anything to stop us.”

Kureha frowned, but admitted defeat. “You better take care of him then.” She threatened. “He is still young, and needs someone to look after him.” She warned.

Drake smiled at that, seeing that despite her harsh behavior, she cared about her charge. “You have seen how far this crew was willing to go for its member.” He remarked. “We will do our best to keep him safe, but he has made his choice to join us, and it won’t be an easy life. But I think that he knows that, and he is still willing to come with us.”

Kureha sighed, leaving the room and ignoring Nami that was trying to sneak out of the room. The two StrawHats shared a look, before Nami winked at him. “You’re sneaky.” She noticed, her tone approving.

“Eh. I’m just good at making civilians do something even when they don’t want to.”

~~One Piece~~

“You have everything you need ?” Asked Usopp, looking at Chopper and the two small bags he was carrying with him.

“Hmm hmm.” Nodded Chopper. “I don’t need more clothes than my stretching pants, and I took everything I will need to be a doctor.” He announced, beaming at Usopp.

“Then we’re all good to go back into the village.” Said Dalton, leading them toward the cabin.

The descent was far shorter than the climb, and it took almost no time for them to get the ship ready to go.

“Are you okay ?” Asked Drake softly, seeing Chopper throw a long glance toward the mountain where the castle resided.

He nodded decidedly, but he still had a small frown on his face. “I just wish she would have come out of the castle to say goodbye.” He explained in a small voice. “But I’m still happy to join your crew !” He exclaimed, this time with a smile.

“She definitely cares about you.” Said Drake. “But she seems like the type of person who has a hard time showing it.” He added. Just as he went to get into the kitchen to see if Sanji needed help with the party that Luffy had been requesting, he heard a muffled sound coming from the island. He and Chopper turned, and were greeted by the sight of a flare rising from the castle high into the air, only to explode and release a pink smoke, creating the illusion of a blooming sakura around the mountain. A smile almost broke on Drake's face at that and he entered the kitchen, leaving a teary-eyed Chopper to enjoy the sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Softy Drake is a softy :3


	8. Mr 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew learns about haki, and that Luffy’s tendency to make friends everywhere isn't always a good thing... Or is it ?

“So, Drake.” Started Luffy, not long after they left Drum. “You told me you would tell us about haki ?”

“Haki ?” Repeated Zoro, the others coming closer to listen to the conversation.

“It’s something that you should all learn to do, as it will give you an edge when fighting.” Drake started to explain. “There are three types of haki, but only two can be learned. The first one is called Observation Haki. It allows you to feel the presence of others. It is usually used in a fight to be able to anticipate the attack of your enemies, but it also allows its user to be able to feel where other people are. I was able to tell that you were coming up the mountain before seeing you.” He explained.

“Anticipate attacks ?” Asked Sanji.

“I guess a demonstration is in order.” Said Drake, sitting up. “Come on Sanji, try to kick me.”

Sanji looked at him a few seconds hesitantly, but instead of asking him if he was sure, he directed a weak kick toward his shoulders. Drake barely shifted his body and avoided it easily. “Come on, you can kick harder than that.” He gauded, Sanji answering with a barrage of kicks that Drake once again avoided without his feet ever moving from their position on the floor. Zoro snorted, amused. While he knew that he probably wouldn’t be able to do better than Sanji given the ease with which Drake moved around the blows, it was still satisfying to see the chef get frustrated at his opponent.

“Have something to say ?” Asked Sanji angrily, turning toward the swordsman.

“Calm down, you two.” Said Drake before Zoro could rile Sanji up further.

“You said there was another type we could learn ?” Asked Nami, helping him prevent a fight from breaking out between the swordsman and the cook.

“The second type is called Armament Haki.” Drake explained, sending a grateful look at Nami. “It allows you to create a sort of armor around part of your body to protect it from damages. It also allows you to get past devil fruit defense.”

“What do you mean ?” Asked Usopp.

“Luffy, gives me your arm.” Ordered Drake, holding his hand out. “Given that your body is made of rubber, you can’t be armed by punches. But if I use haki, then…” He lightly punched Luffy’s arm, just strong enough that it would have stretched under the impact normally. However, they could all see that his arm didn’t bend, and Luffy gave a surprised flinch when it hurt slightly.

“Some people have devil fruit that makes it hard for them to get hurt, but knowing armament allows you to bypass those. There aren't a lot of people that know about it in these parts of the Grand Line, so if you manage to learn it before we reach the second part then it will definitely give you an edge over most opponents. As to normal armament… Zoro, try to cut me.” He ordered, taking one of his gloves out.

The swordsman didn’t hesitate and sprung up to his feet, before drawing Yubashiri out and trying to cut him. Drake raised his now bare hand, and grabbed the sword before it could touch his head. A black sheen had covered it, and when he released the blade, they all could see that he took no damage.

“Useful.” Noted Zoro as he seathed Yubashiri. He could feel Kitetsu wanting to try its sharpness against Drake, but he mentally admonished him and sat down.

“I will teach you how to unlock it, but it will take time before you make any visible progress.” Finally explained Drake.

“And everyone can learn to do that ?” Asked Nami. While she wasn’t planning to fight anyone, they were going into a country in the middle of the civil war, and knowing Luffy they would attract trouble at every island they stopped at. A way to avoid taking damage would be a great help in ensuring their survival.

“Everyone can learn the basics, but only some people manage to unlock the more advanced techniques. Most people have one type that they are better at however, so even by doing the same training not everyone will unlock it at the same time.” He explained. “I can show you the exercise to do for armament this afternoon, and then alternate between the two each day until we reach Alabasta.” He offered, earning nods from the rest of the crew.

“If we’re talking about useful things right now, Vivi, what can you tell us about Baroque’s Work ? Chopper and Drake don't know what is really going on.” Asked Nami.

Drake could see Luffy’s attention starting to wander, and he lightly taped the back of his head. “Focus.” He admonished him. “So you know who you will have to fight. It would be bad if you were to fight someone, only to find out that he is just a minor Baroque’s Work member, wouldn’t it ?”

Luffy instantly snapped his attention back toward Vivi, drawing chuckles out of the rest of the crew.

“Baroque’s Work is an organization that is trying to take over my country, Alabasta, by creating a rebellion over the lack of available water.” Started to explain Vivi to an attentive Chopper. “I infiltrated it two years ago to find out who was at its head, and I found out that it’s the Shichibukai Crocodile that is leading it.” 

“Shichibukai ?” Asked Chopper, while Drake’s eyes opened wide. He hadn’t known that Crocodile was involved, as the man seemed to use Alabasta as a way to have a foothold in the Grand Line and didn’t seem to care that much about the country outside of protecting it from rookie pirate crews attacking it.

“It’s a pirate sanctioned by the World Government.” He explained succinctly. “There are only seven of them, and they are all quite strong.”

“His organization is split into different levels. Under him are his strongest fighter, all split into pairs. The Mr 1 to Mr 5 pair are the Officer Agents, they have control over an army of 200 people called the Billions. Then, the Mr 6 to Mr 12 pair are the Frontier Agents, and have control over 1800 agents called the Millions. The lower your number, the stronger you are.”

“The Frontier Agents aren’t really strong.” Noted Zoro. “I faced a few of them at Whiskey Peak and I defeated, like, five of them by myself.”

“While Crocodile himself isn’t the strongest Shichibukai, he is the most powerful fighter you could find this close to the entrance of the Grand Line.” Said Drake with a frown. “It’s probably one of the reasons he targeted Alabasta, even the marines around here are weaker than him. And the climate will give him an advantage.”

“What do you mean ?” Asked Luffy. While he wanted to face a strong guy like Crocodile, he needed to beat him to save Vivi’s country, and if Crocodile belonged in the same group as Dracule Mihawk, he would need every advantage to beat him.

“He is a sand logia. It means that his body can literally become sand. Alabasta is a desert country, so we will have to try and fight him as far away from the sand as possible. It also means that normal attacks won’t hurt him.” He informed Luffy. “He won’t be able to transform into sand if we douse him with water, but it will be hard to do given the situation in Alabasta. So either you find a huge source of water when you go fight him, or I will have to help you fight.”

“I’m not letting anyone fight my battles for me.” Said Luffy, frowning unhappily.

“Luffy, you don’t understand what it is to fight a logia. Imagine someone whose whole fighting ability is based on punching people fighting you. They wouldn’t be able to win unless they find a new way to fight. It’s the same here, you won’t be able to land a hit unless he is rendered solid, and I know of only two ways of doing that.”

“It would have been like me fighting Buggy.” Observed Zoro. While he could understand Luffy want to fight on his own without help, if he knew that he would be at a disadvantage that meant he wouldn’t even be able to hit his opponent… There was no shame in getting help in that case. He knew he was lucky that every crew they had faced had either involved a swordsman, or he had been forced to decimate a high number of low level grunt, but if he had to fight a sniper or someone that made swords useless like Buggy, and there was another person on the crew that could fight with him, he wouldn’t refuse their help.

“Is there a way for me to learn armament haki before the fight ? I don’t think I will find water in the desert.” Asked Luffy.

“It would take most people at least a month to learn enough haki to activate it in life or death situations, and we have days at most.” Answered regrettably Drake. “I don’t want to take your fight from you, I understand that it’s your right as a Captain to face Crocodile, but I want to ensure his defeat more than anything. I will gladly step down if you find a way to fight him alone.” He conceded.

Luffy finally nodded, happy at the compromise. Having a crew meant he didn’t have to do anything alone, but he still wanted to fight his own fights, to grow stronger with each opponent he faced.

~~One Piece~~

Luffy, Usopp and Chopper were all fishing, a lump on their head from their attempt at stealing from Sanji’s kitchen. While they had managed to avoid the chef, there was no misleading Drake’s observation haki, and he had had no shame in denouncing them as having come into the kitchen during the night. Since they had eaten most of the food and Drake wasn’t letting hunger be a reason to skip haki training, they were all hungry and cranky, Sanji throwing angry looks toward their back every few minutes.

“Come on. Let’s see what we still have in stock for the rest of our journey.” Said Drake, putting a reassuring hand on Sanji’s shoulder and leading him into the pantry.

A few minutes into their attempt to determine how to divide the little food they had to feed them for a day and a half without anyone growing too hungry, they heard a commotion outside. Drake stopped moving, his head cocked to the side as he listened to the new voice that had joined the familiar ones of the crew.

“Should we go ?” Asked Sanji distractedly.

“They feel strong, but not threatening. Everyone else is outside, we will hear if anything happens and we are needed.”

They could hear Luffy, Usopp and Chopper happily laughing outside for a few minutes before Usopp’s shout of “Mr. 2” reached their ears. They watched each other in surprise for a second before running outside, only to see a ship getting away from them and everyone looking at Vivi with incredulous faces.

“What happened ?” Asked Sanji.

“Mr. 2 was on the ship. Vivi had his exact description but didn’t match him with it.” Explained Nami.

“I never saw him before !” Repeated Vivi.

“He’s not really discreet.” Countered Usopp. “You don’t see okamas dressed to look like a swan every day.”

“He didn’t seem to know who we were, so he showed us his devil fruit.” Added Zoro with a smirk. “When he touches someone's face, he is able to morph his features to match theirs. But now that we know about his ability, we can take countermeasures.”

“What are you thinking of?” Asked Nami.

“He only copied our body. We should keep an object, something distinctive that we can show each other if we’re in doubt.”

“Why not a mark ?” Offered Nami after thinking about it for a second. “We make a mark somewhere hidden on our body.”

“Are we sure he won’t be able to copy it ?” Asked Drake.

“He didn’t have Nami’s tattoo.” Answered Usopp.

Sanji's head snapped up at that, looking at Nami’s shirt that was hiding half of her arms. “How do you know that ?” He asked.

~~One Piece~~

Chopper looked at his left arm, where a bandage was hiding a dark X as a way to make sure that they could trust each other.

“Are you okay ?” Asked Usopp, seeing the strange look on their newest crew member.

“I’m just not sure about how much I will be able to help.” He said, suddenly feeling insecure as the danger of what they were going to do registered in his mind, and the distant and unknown enemy suddenly took a face and was able to reach them on their ship.

“You just need to do the best you can to help.” Said reassuredly Usopp. “Not everyone can be as strong as Luffy or the others, but as long as you do your best, then it will be okay. Even taking out the weaker fighters is important to make sure that the other can focus on the more powerful ones.”

“And furthermore, you’re a doctor.” Added Drake, having overheard the conversation. “Even if you’re not able to defeat someone, you will be able to patch everyone up, and that’s just as important as fighting. But I saw your three forms, and your larger one seems to be rather strong, so I’m sure you will be able to help.”

“Oh, I haven’t shown any of you !” Said Chopper, blinking in shock. “I developed a medicine that allows me to access up to seven different transformations.” He took a small sphere out of his backpack. “I called it a Rumble Ball. When I eat one, I can transform for three minutes into four more forms than my usual.”

Drake just looked blankly at him for a few seconds. “That’s… I never heard of anything like that.” He finally said. “That’s truly genius.” He added quietly, triggering a happy dance from the small doctor and a volley of insults.

“There’s a lot of limitations on it, and I can’t take them often, but it’s definitely useful.” Explained bashfully Chopper.

“I don’t think that even Doctor Vegapunk, who is one of the smartest men alive and the one that discovered much of what we know about Devil Fruit powers, has thought about granting a Zoan more forms.”

“Wow.” Said Usopp, amazed. “Would that work for Drake too ?”

“The idea behind it, yes, but I would need to tailor it to him for it to work. If the dosage is wrong, it can be disastrous.” Explained Chopper.

“I’d rather not test it.” Said Drake with a tight smile. “I had a hard time getting control over my Devil Fruit when I got it, I’d rather not transform partly into a dinosaur and lose control.”

“Yeah, I… I had an accident once, because of the Rumble Ball.” Said Chopper, suddenly oddly subdued. “Losing control of your Devil Fruit can be really bad.”

Usopp and Drake glanced at each other and decided not to question the now uncomfortable doctor further.

“Well, I’m going to ask Nami how long until we reach land.” Said Usopp awkwardly before leaving, Drake following him with a small pat to Chopper’s head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we'll reach Alabasta... Or more precisely, Nanohana.


	9. Nanohana

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew reaches Nanohana, and Luffy reunites with someone he hadn’t seen for three years.

“I can’t wait !” Shouted Luffy excitedly as they entered the river leading to Nanohana, his eyes scanning over the part of the town they could already see. “Restaurant, restaurant…” He chanted happily, drool falling from the corner of his mouth.

“You wouldn’t have been so hungry if you hadn’t eaten everything we had.” Said Sanji, still angry about it.

“We’ll have to restock.” Said Drake. “And to buy clothes adapted for traveling in the desert. And to find a restaurant for Luffy.” He added, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth at his captain's enthusiasm.

“We won’t stay long in the Merry after this. We just need to stay near the coast until we reach Erumaru, and it won’t take more than half a day. Then I don’t know how long it will take until we can go back to the Merry.” Explained Vivi.

“I can deal with restocking on food alone then.” Said Sanji.

“And Vivi and I will go looking for clothes.” Said Nami. “What are you going to do ?” She asked, turning toward the rest of the boys.

“Go explore, see if I can find anything interesting to tinker with.” Said Usopp.

“I think I’m going to explore too, see if there is anything new I can learn about medicine here.” Answered Chopper.

“I’ll follow you then.” Said Drake. “Unless you want to do something out there ? I can keep guard on the ship.” He asked turning toward Zoro, earning a negative shake of his head.

“And I’m going to get FOOD !” Shouted Luffy, grabbing onto the rails of the Merry and rocketing himself toward the city before anyone could say anything.

“He’s hopeless.” Sighed Nami.

Chopper, Drake and Ussop left in the same direction, quickly splitting from first Nami and Vivi, and then losing Sanji at a food stall. Drake was happy to follow the small reindeer in Nanohana’s bookshop. The reindeer found a few books talking about plants specific from Alabasta, some of them talking especially about their usage in medicine. It took them less than an hour to see everything the market had to offer, and they reunited with Usopp halfway through their tour.

They waited at the edge of the market where they had separated, and were joined a few minutes later by Sanji, Vivi and Nami, all three holding various bags.

“Did any of you see Luffy ?” Asked Nami as soon as they got close enough to hear.

“No, but there’s noise coming from there.” Said Drake, pointing toward a large street next to them.

Soon, they could all hear shouts and the sound of people running. Luffy suddenly came running into their street, a man with a marine uniform and floating above the ground following him.

“Is that…” Asked Drake, shocked as he recognized the power the marine used.

“Everyone !” Shouted Luffy, barreling toward them.

“Don’t come near us !” Shouted back most of the crew, Drake still too shocked at seeing Smoker floating toward them. His brain restarted and he instantly turned away, ducking his face to hide it behind the fur of his coat.

Suddenly a flash of fire flew toward Smoker, stopping him in his tracks.

“We need to run.” Exclaimed Sanji, prompting them all into action.

It took them a few minutes to get back to the ship, and Drake’s mind was reeling the entire time. He and Smoker had been friends, Smoker being a few years older than him but the fact that he started in East Blue and his attitude had slowed his rise through the ranks, while Drake had been a shooting start despite his past hindering him. Last he knew, he had been sent back into the East Blue, and had decided to stay in Logue Town to prevent pirates from crossing Reverse Mountain. He certainly wasn’t expecting to meet him on the Grand Line.

As they reached the ship, Vivi shouted to Karoo to get out.

“What happened ?” Asked Zoro, watching them all being slightly out of breath, while Vivi was talking to Karoo and giving him a piece of paper.

“Smoker was here.” Explained Sanji. Zoro’s eyebrows rose at that.

“Who is he ?” Asked Chopper.

“A Marine from the East Blue.” Explained Sanji. “He tried to capture Luffy once, but we managed to escape. He had a reputation for being in the East for years, so we weren’t expecting him here.”

“What was the fire that stopped him ?” Asked Usopp as they all climbed up the ship.

“That’s my brother !” Exclaimed happily Luffy. Everyone fell down at that, shocked. “I didn’t know he ate a Devil Fruit, I haven’t seen him in ages.”

“You have a brother ?” Yelled Nami and Usopp at the same time.

“I don’t even want to know what kind of monster he has to be, to be Luffy’s brother.” Muttered Zoro.

Luffy was nodding, his smile even bigger than usual. “Oh, yeah, Ace is super strong ! I never won a fight against him even when I had my Devil Fruit and he didn’t have one.”

“Ace ?” Repeated Drake. He had been too distracted by Smoker to pay attention to anything else, but someone named Ace having fire powers, he could only think of one person. Someone landed on the railing behind Luffy, confirming Drake’s ideas.

“Long time no see, Luffy.” Said the stranger with a blinding smile.

“Ace !” Exclaimed Luffy.

“Your brother is Fire Fist Ace ?” Choked out Drake. He could feel part of the crew reacts in shock behind him.

“Second commander of the Whitebeard pirates ?” Said Sanji, his cigarette falling out of his mouth.

Luffy just cocked his head to the side. “Whitebeard ?”

“How haven’t you heard of Whitebeard ?” Shouted Nami.

“He is the strongest pirates of the Grand Line.” Explained Ace. He hadn’t expected Luffy to know Whitebeard, his brother tended to be rather uninformed. “He is the man that I will make the Pirate King.” He said with a smirk.

“Then I will have to fight you both.” Answered Luffy, unconcerned by the challenging tone.

“He would be happy for you to join his crew, so I’m extending an offer to all of you.” Ace said, his gaze swiping over the rest of the StrawHats.

“No thanks.” Answered flippantly Luffy.

Nami facepalmed at him rejecting an offer from one of the Emperor so easily.

“I didn’t expect anything else.” Answered Ace, not bothered by the immediate refusal. “So.” He started, his eyes returning on the crew that was watching him. “This is your crew. I must thank you for looking after my brother.” He said with a formal bow. They all scrambled to bow back to him.

“It’s no problem, really.” Said Nami awkwardly.

“I wanted to see you Luffy, but I must get going.” Said Ace, before fetching something from the back pocket of his shorts and holding it out for Luffy. “Take this. It will allow us to reunite one day.”

Luffy took it, looking at it oddly. “A piece of paper ?” He questioned.

“Don’t want it ?” Said Ace teasingly.

“No, no, I’ll take it.” Answered Luffy, his hand closing over it to make sure Ace couldn’t take it back.

“You said you must be going, do you have something to do here ?” Asked Sanji.

“I’m looking for a man, going by the name Blackbeard.” Answered Ace, his face suddenly serious. “He betrayed Whitebeard and killed one of the commanders. He was part of my division, and I must catch him and bring him back so he can be punished.”

The Strawhats watched him seriously, Drake hissing through his teeth. Killing someone that was in your crew, that trusted you to have their back… He hated people like this, who really had no honor and followed no code.  
ce looked undisturbed at the sudden more serious atmosphere his words had created, and gave them a two-finger salute before jumping from the Merry into his own vessel which he powered by his own fire powers.

“What was that that he gave you ?” Asked Nami when Ace had disappeared on the horizon, the crew surrounding Luffy to look at the gift.

“It’s a Vivre Card.” Recognized Drake.

“What’s that ?”

“That is something really rare, and can be powerful if it falls into the wrong hands.” He started to explain. “Hold it in the palm of your hand.” They all watched as the piece of paper started to twitch in Luffy’s hand.

“It moved !” Exclaimed Luffy, surprised.

“It moves in Ace’s direction. You’ll just need to follow it to find him again. It can’t be destroyed by conventional means, but if it ever starts to burn, it means that Ace’s life is in danger. The smaller the piece becomes, the closer he is to death. If he gets better, the piece will become full again.” He explained.

“Useful.” Said Zoro.

“We need to go before the marines catch us.” Suddenly remembered Nami, and they all went to get the ship ready to sail.

“What’s the plan for now ?” Asked Drake.

“We need to get to Yuba. We can’t access it with the Merry, so we will need to stop at Erumaru, then cross the desert for about a day until we reach Yuba.”

“Is that where Crocodile is ?” Asked Sanji.

“No, that’s the main base for the rebel army.” Explained Vivi. “I need to get there and talk to its leader, to convince them that they are being manipulated and that my father isn’t the one responsible for what’s happening.”

“You can’t believe that you will succeed.” Said Zoro, incredulous.

“Don’t talk to Vivi like that, shitty swordsman.” Started to say Sanji, only to get cut off by Drake.

“Vivi, you can’t argue with an army of 700 000 people to stop fighting. You can’t negotiate with people that are so angry at the government that they start rebelling.”

“How could you know ?” She asked angrily. Drake clenched his jaw, but didn’t answer. He had seen it as a marine, how violent the people could become, and how once they were part of a mob they would all rile each other up until they no longer were able to listen to reason.

“I know the leaders of the rebel army.” Said Vivi. “We are childhood friends, and if I tell him that my family isn’t responsible for this, he will listen to me.” She said forcefully.

“And will the rest of the rebellion listen to him ? If he just tells them to stop fighting, that the king isn’t the bad guy here, but can’t give proof to this ? It’s not reasonable.” Argued Drake.

“I need to at least try !” She shouted. “I won’t let my people kill each other if I can prevent it.”

“We’ll do what you think is best.” Interrupted Luffy.

Drake huffed, but kept quiet. She was losing time, valuable time that they could spend looking for Crocodile and making sure to stop him before he could do anything else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short meeting with Ace, and Drake see Smoker...


	10. Rain Base

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the crew reaches Yuba and Luffy manages to make Vivi understand that she’s not alone, they decide to go to Rain Base to face off Crocodile.

They barely stopped at Erumaru, the town deserted and covered in sand. Vivi had explained that it had once been famous for its vegetation, but because of the lack of rain it had slowly died out. The fact that soldiers carrying Dance Powder had been found out had angered people, and most of the town had left to join the newly created rebellion.

They left Erumaru after a small pause, and started walking once again in the desert. The heat from the day was hitting them all strongly, Chopper and Ussop being the most affected, or at least the ones complaining the most. But with Vivi leading the way, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Drake following her pace without complaint, the rest of the crew was forced to walk quickly less they get left behind. This was why despite the heat, they managed to reach Yuba in a couple of hours.

Yuba seemed to be in an even worst state than Erumaru. Or at least, from what they could see. A sandstorm was raging in the town, and even from their vantage position at the top of one of the surrounding dune, they could barely see the house from behind the sand.

“It’s huge.” Said Nami, her eyes wide.

“We need to get somewhere safe.” Said Vivi. “We can’t risk getting caught in it if it moves toward us.” However, the sandstorm seemed to stay over the town, and they kept watching it safely from behind the dunes.

“There’s something strange about it.” Said Nami. While she had never seen a sandstorm before, she was sure that it was going in the opposite direction of the wind.

Drake extended his haki and frowned. “It’s not natural. I can feel a presence in it.”

“Crocodile ?” Asked fearfully Usopp.

“Probably. He can control sand, so he is probably able to create sandstorms.” Answered Sanji.

“He could destroy entire towns with his power.” Remarked Zoro.

Drake pointed toward Yuba. The sandstorm was starting to slow down, and they finally could see the town appear from behind the winds. It was in a similar state to Erumaru, a lot of houses destroyed and the rest overrun with sand. “This is exactly what he is doing here.”

“We need to find the people living here.” Said Vivi, before starting to run down the dune.

“Are there even people there ?” Asked Zoro as they all followed her.

“I can only sense one person.” Answered Drake quietly.

Sanji grimaced next to them. “If the rebels already left the town to clash with the army... ”

“That’s no good.” Said Chopper.

~~One Piece~~

Just like they sadly expected, the town was alone safe for one old man who had introduced himself as Toto. The old man had recognized Vivi quickly, and they seemed to know each other, although their connection hadn’t been made clear. Vivi still was shocked to hear that the rebels had left the town.

“The constant sandstorms were too destructive for them to stay here.” Explained Toto. The Straw Hats looked at each other, all thinking the same thing. If Crocodile had been responsible for the sandstorm they had seen when reaching Yuba, it wasn’t a stretch to think that he was also responsible for the previous ones. Which meant that he had pushed the rebel army to leave Yuba and was going to try to force the confrontation with the king’s soldiers.

“Where did they go ?” Asked anxiously Vivi.

“Their new base is next Nanohana.” Toto answered.

“Nanohana !” Shouted Nami. “But we were here just a day ago.”

“We need to get back there.” Said Vivi desperately.

“We can’t go now, the sun is about to set.” Reasoned Nami. “Let’s spend the night here, and then go back into the desert tomorrow.”

Luffy had a pensive face on, but followed his crew in one of the empty houses without saying anything.

The next day, however, when Vivi tried to make them leave Yuba to go back to Nanohana, he sat cross-legged on the floor, crossed his arms over his chest and looked at Vivi determinedly.

“I’m not moving.”

“What ?” Asked Nami, shocked, as they all turned to watch him.

“I said I’m not moving. I don’t want to go back to Nanohana.”

“What are you talking about ? We need to stop the rebellion.” Said Vivi, coming to stand in front of him.

“Do you truly believe everything will be okay if we reach them ?”

“I have to at least try !” She shouted back.

“ _You_ have ? Vivi, you’re not alone in this ! If talking to one guy was all it took to prevent this war, you wouldn’t need our help.” Vivi swallowed nervously at that.

“Crocodile planned this for years, it won’t be this easy. The only way to stop this is to beat him up so he can no longer manipulate everything !” He continued.

“Vivi, even if you manage to convince the revolutionaries leader, Crocodile just needs to find another person to act as a leader in his stead.” Said Drake, not saying that he didn’t believe that she could convince him. He might be a childhood friend, but to lead a rebel army as big as this one, you couldn’t let feelings get in the way.

“If he still has access to the Dance Powder, he only needs to use it a few times and the people will grow angry again.” Continued quietly Nami.

“We’re here for you, Vivi.” Said Luffy, his eyes locking with hers. “Use us.”

Vivi nodded, tears in her eyes. “Okay.” She whispered. “If you want to defeat him, then we need to go to Rainbase.”

~~One Piece~~

“Oh, Nami, I finally ended what you asked of me.” Said Usopp as they neared Rainbase.

“What’s that ?” Asked Chopper, as Usopp grabbed three blue pipes from his bag and handed them out to Nami.

“That’s a new weapon. I called it the Clima Tact. You can reunite the three parts to be used as a staff, or you can use them separately, I wrote a notice on how it works.”

“You should try it now.” Advised Drake. “Before you get into a real fight.”

Nami looked up, surprised, before she turned toward Usopp.

“Hmm, sure.” Said the sniper. “Most of it is just tricks, but given your knowledge of weather I thought you could do something with it. You can create small, cold balls when you do this…” He started to explain, Nami nodding alongside his explanation.

It took him the remaining part of their travel to Rainbase to explain every functionality he had designed, and when they reached the town he barely gave them the time to breathe before exclaiming that he would bring them water, Luffy following him with a shout.

“Is it really a good idea to let these two do this ?” Asked Nami.

“You were too involved in your discussion with Usopp to hear it, but Luffy wouldn’t shut up about being thirsty for the last half an hour.” Said Sanji, shrugging. “They should be able to go drink and bring us something, I trust at least Usopp not to get distracted.”

“They’re coming back.” Informed Chopper, his nose twitching as he felt their familiar scent get near, ported by the wind.

Drake unconsciously focused his observation haki on them, only to flinch in surprise as he felt another presence.

“Fuck.” He said heartfully. “They’re bringing-” Luffy and Usopp suddenly appeared in the street next to them, followed by Smoker and a group of marines. “-Smoker.” Finished lamely Drake.

“Scatter !” Shouted Luffy.

Nami and Vivi started running toward Crocodile’s casino, Luffy and Usopp following her. while Sanji, Chopper, Drake, and Zoro went in the opposite position. 

While most of the marines tried to follow them since they seemed to be the bigger group, Drake was happy to see that Smoker had chosen Luffy’s group instead of his own. They easily evaded their pursuers, but they suddenly fell upon a group of civilians that attacked them.

“Baroque’s Work !” Shouted Sanji as he saw their marks.

Less than a minute later, they looked down at their unconscious adversary. Sanji has put his hands in his pockets in the middle of the fight, while Drake has only got his sword out, his axe staying firmly at his side.

“Wasn’t Zoro with us ?” Asked Chopper.

“Chopper, he managed to get lost half a dozen times while we were traveling to Yuba, you shouldn’t be surprised at this point.” Said Sanji.

“I found a Den Den Mushi.” Said Drake, crouching above one of the unconscious Baroque’s Works members and showing them the sleeping snail.

“You think they have Crocodile’s number ?” Asked Sanji.

“Why would you want to call him ?” Asked Chopper.

“I already faked our death once before.” Explained Sanji. “He probably knows now that we’re still alive, since we met Mr. 2.”

“The rest of the crew went to his casino. They might already be facing him.” Said Drake, ignoring Chopper’s gasp of surprise. “Do you have a plan ?”

“We can fake my death do draw him out.” Started to say Sanji, thinking out loud. “We’ll act like one of the Millions managed to defeat me, and try to lure Crocodile outside. If Luffy and the others haven’t found him yet, they’ll probably meet him on his way. I don’t think they’re fighting now, there’s too little chaos.” He answered.

“Hmm, smart.” Said Drake, before he looked at Chopper. “You could play Sanji’s role since you’re able to transform. Get his attention on your larger form, run away and once you’re safe enough, get into your smaller form to evade him.”

Chopper nodded, and Sanji took the baby DenDen from Drake’s hand.

“Hello ?” He said in the receptor. “Can you hear me ?”

“You’re one of the millions, right ?” Asked a woman's voice, and Drake hit the back of Sanji’s head to force him to refocus when his eyes started to turn into hearths.

“I’ve never used a baby Den Den Mushi before.” He said to distract her from her question.

“What happened ?” Asked a man's voice, and Sanji’s head snapped up to look at Drake, a triumphant look on his face as he recognized Crocodile’s voice.

“Oooh, I’ve heard that voice before.” He said with a shit-eating grin. “Welcome sir, this is the shitty restaurant.”

“Shitty restaurant…” Repeated Crocodile, before making a small noise as he remembered.

“Nice, you remember me.”

They heard a small, muffled sound coming from the Den Den, but couldn’t identify what it was.

“Who the hell are you ?” Asked Crocodile angrily.

“Me ? I’m…” His eyes suddenly avoided Drake’s. “Mr. Prince.” He said.

One of Drake’s eyebrows rose at that. He wouldn’t have thought that Sanji would have referenced his birth this casually.

“I see. And where are you, Mr. Prince ?” Asked Crocodile.

“Oh, I can’t tell you. You’ll come to kill me if I do, won’t you ?” Said Sanji, trying to bait him outside. “I don’t think you’ll be able to, even if you find me, Mr. 0.” He said tauntingly.

“Mr. Prince !” The voice of Luffy suddenly came out of the baby Den Den, and they looked at each other in shock. “We’ve been captured, we don’t have much time left.”

“Hmm, that sounds like my crew.” He said with a calm he didn’t feel. “Well, I will need to-” He cut off as Drake dropped a body next to him, and gave a small cry.

“Tough bastard.” Muttered Drake as he took over the baby Den Den Mushi, gesturing at Sanji to start running away toward the casino.

“What should I do with him, sir ?” He asked.

~~One Piece~~

Smoker's head snapped up as he heard the new voice on the Den Den. He knew this voice, but it couldn’t be…

“Where are you ?” Asked sharply Crocodile.

“I’m at the front gate of the casino called “Rain Dinners”, in Rainbase, sir.” Said the voice, and Smoker gritted his teeth. It definitely was Drake’s voice, but he couldn’t believe that the man would have joined a Shichibukai’s crew, given his stance against them before he left. However, he would never have thought that Drake would leave the Marines either, and look at what had happened.

Crocodile and his partner left the room without a backward glance, and Luffy ordered Vivi to leave too and to try and get help. She started to run back into the casino, before running right into Drake. “Drake !” She gasped, relieved. “Luffy and the others are-”

“We’ve heard.” Interrupted Sanji.

“Show us where they are.” Said Drake.

Vivi grabbed Sanji’s hand and started to run toward where Luffy and the other had been trapped in a cage, explaining what had happened while they got separated.

“Drake !” “Sanji !” Nami and Usopp shouted happily when they saw them on the top of the stairs.

Drake met Smoker’s gaze for a second, the two glaring at each other before he looked toward Nami.

“Do you know where the key is ?” He asked her.

“Crocodile threw it into the water and one of the bananadiles ate it.” She despaired.

“Third one on the right.” Grunted Smoker.

The water that was rising in the room was high enough to prevent him from making a full transformation, but he could still call forward part of his Allosaurus, and Drake shifted his eyes, the glacial blue becoming a mix of yellow and orange. The bananadiles in front of him stopped in their attempt to attack him, frozen, as they felt a bigger predator, some part of their brain that had been unused since the dinosaurs disappeared waking up. He cornered the one he wanted, a bloodthirsty grin making the others run away back under the water.

The cornered reptile opened his mouth wide in a desperate attempt to protect itself, and Drake used this opportunity to stab the inside of his mouth with his sword. The bananadile reared back, and Drake swung his axe on its now uncovered belly. It threw up what he had eaten, not only a small key that Drake snatched as it flew past him, but also a white ball, that cracked open to reveal Mr. 3.

They all frowned when they saw him, but Drake ignored his relieved shout of being alive to try the key in the cage lock.

“Bastard.” He muttered. “It’s not the right key.”

“What !” Shouted Luffy.

“But he only threw one key down there.” Said Usopp.

“He never planned on you getting out of here alive.” Said Drake. He then threw a surreptitious glance at Mr. 3 who was trying to escape discreetly. 

“Mr. 3, right ?” He asked, the man freezing in fear at the sound of his name. “Aren’t you able to create the key to this cage using your wax powers ?”

Mr. 3, clearly remembering how he had lost against Drake, even with the help of Mr. 5, nodded tightly.

“Come here.” Said Drake with a tilt of his head, his hand resting innocently on the hilt of his sword.

He opened the door of the cage, and they all looked around desperately. The water that was dripping into the room had now reached Luffy’s knee, and the wall wouldn’t stand for long against the pressure outside.

“We need to get out before the wall breaks.” Said Usopp, just as the wall broke and water erupted into the room.

“Zoro, get Smoker !” Shouted Luffy as he got swept up by the strong water current.

Nami grabbed onto him before he could get too far away from her, just as Sanji started to swim toward Drake. He grabbed the zoan by the back of his coat, getting a better grip on him by clinging to him with one arm around his middle. Zoro, who had a grip on a catatonic Smoker, pointed up, and they all started to swim toward the glass ceiling that had broken under the pressure.

They reached the outside, Vivi having joined Nami in helping her to drag Luffy up. The Devil Fruit users quickly regained consciousness, coughing up water.

“X Drake.” Said Smoker, his eyes blazing with fury as he watched his former friend and marine turned traitor.

“Smoker.” Drake acknowledged, before turning toward the rest of the Straw Hats. “Chopper is acting as a distraction for Crocodile, but it won’t last long.”

“Don’t you dare ignore me, you traitor.” Shouted Smoker, walking toward Drake and pushing him harshly.

“Once you start to open your eyes and look at the fucking world around you, I’ll talk to you. Don’t you dare act like you care about traitors after your last years of service.” Said Drake coldly.

“What is that supposed to mean ?” Asked Smoker before Drake could turn back to ignore him in favor of talking to his crew.

“You stayed I don’t know how many years in Logue Town, preventing weak pirates that wouldn’t last a week in the Grand Line from entering, while other pirates were running havoc in the East.” He answered. “The first time you left is when Luffy managed to escape from you, so you clearly care more about reputation than doing your duty. Don’t act so high and mighty when you’re just as guilty as the higher up of ignoring the corruption running rampant in the marines.”

Smoker had taken an angry red color, but before he could answer a battalion of marines ran toward them.

“You going to fight us ?” Asked Drake, his glare locked onto Smoker.

They stayed like this a few seconds, ignoring the shout of the marines and of Nami and Usopp that were urging Drake to run.

“You saved my life.” Finally said Smoker, his eyes leaving Drake’s to look at Zoro. “I’m letting you go, just this once.” He tried to look toward Drake, but the zoan was already walking away from him.

~~One Piece~~

“Everyone !” Shouted a small Chopper, jumping high into the air to grab onto Zoro’s face.

“You’re safe.” Said Sanji, relieved. He had trusted their doctor to evade Crocodile, but it hadn’t sat well with him to know how risky it was.

“What do we do now ? Do we try looking for Crocodile once again ?” Asked Drake.

“We need to get to Alubarna.” Revealed Vivi. “The rebel army is going there, and he said that the royal army would answer… I asked my father not to fight in the letter I wrote, but given Mr. 2 powers, he could have overrode it.” She said with a frown.

“How far away is it ?” Asked Nami.

“Probably a day.” Answered Vivi, biting her nails in distress. “We’re going to get too late to prevent the start of the fight, but Crocodile is going to go there, so we will find a way to stop the fight after it had started.” She said determinedly.

“I made a friend !” Revealed Chopper. “While I was at the border of the city, I found a moving crab. I can ask him to take us to Alubarna.”

“A moving crab ?” Asked Zoro.

“They’re really fast, it would take him only a few hours to do the journey.” Explained Vivi.

They quickly located Chopper’s friend once they reached the border of Rainbase and went to leave the city on its back.

“Duck !” Shouted suddenly Drake one of his hands shooting out to grab onto Vivi and tackling her on the back of the crab, a golden hook appearing where she was just a second before.

“Crocodile !” Shouted Luffy, grabbing the hook as it went to attack Vivi once again.

“Sanji.” Said Drake as he pushed Vivi onto his arms, one haki covered hand stopping the sand around them from becoming solid around Vivi. “Keep her safe !”

The sand around them was picking up, a sandstorm in the making, and soon the moving crab would no longer be able to move. They couldn’t risk being scattered by a sandstorm and Vivi being taken away from them.

“Drake.” Said Luffy with a tilt of his head before he jumped off the crab’s back, one hand still holding onto Crocodile’s hook.

“We’ll reunite in Alubarna.” Ordered Drake, jumping after Luffy before anyone could protest.

“No ! Luffy, Drake !” Shouted Vivi, Sanji’s arm around her middle the only thing preventing her from going after them.

“We need to get back to them !” Said Nami, turning toward Chopper that was holding the reins of the crab.

“No, we’re still going to Alubarna.” Said Zoro.

“We can’t let-” Started Nami.

“We won’t be able to help.” Interrupted Sanji. “It’s their fight. We need to stop the rebel and royal armies before they can clash.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And the real fight starts !


	11. Pirates Luffy And Drake VS Shichibukai Crocodile

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luffy and Drake got separated from the rest of the Straw Hats in an attempt to defeat Crocodile. Their first fight doesn’t go how they expected it, but it doesn’t stop them from attacking again.

Luffy and Drake were standing, the moving crab quickly disappearing behind their back. In front of them were Crocodile and his partner, Miss All Sunday.

“Former Rear Admiral X Drake.” Said Miss All Sunday, Luffy twitching in surprise at that, even though his gaze never left Crocodile. “I wouldn’t have thought that someone with a 90 million beri bounty would work with a small crew like this.”

“Nico Robin.” Answered Drake. “You would know all about working with people with smaller bounties than yours, wouldn’t you ? 79 million is a respectable amount, especially for someone that young. ”

“What do you think you are doing here.” Asked Crocodile, bored with the display.

“We’re going to kick your ass.” Answered Luffy, cracking his knuckles. “For everything you did to Vivi.”

“What I did to her ?” Repeated Crocodile with a laugh. “I don’t know what you are talking about. I’m just a businessman, keeping this country afloat in those hard times caused by the Nefertari family.” He said with a smirk.

“Is that what it is called these days ?” Asked Drake.

“I don’t care what you’re saying. Vivi’s suffering because of you. She tries so hard to keep her people from fighting, and she won’t succeed until I beat you up.” Said Luffy seriously.

“Well, you’re lucky I’m busy.” Said Crocodile, throwing an hourglass on the ground. “I won’t have the time to play with you sadly, I’ll have to kill you in three minutes. Nico Robin.” He turned slightly to see his partner from the corner of his eyes, ignoring her frown at being called her real name twice in a day. “Go forward, I’ll join you soon.”

“ **Gum Gum Pistol !** ” Shouted Luffy as soon as Robin left, her fist passing through the side of Crocodile’s head. The Shichibukai transformed his body into sand, flying toward Luffy. Drake, that had been ignored until then, used this opportunity to fling his haki covered axe toward Crocodile. It hit him in the torso, sending him flying a few meters away.

“Rear Admiral, huh.” He said, glaring at Drake and cleaning a drop of blood from the corner of his mouth. “ **Sables !** ” He shouted, the start of a sandstorm forming into his hand, quickly gaining volume.

“I won’t let you !” Shouted Luffy, his hand passing through Crocodile’s arm in an attempt to prevent him from forming his attack. Crocodile had to send the sandstorm before it could truly form toward Drake, slowing him in his attack. He then sent a blade of sand toward Luffy, his hook clashing with Drake’s axe as he split himself in two to avoid a swing of his sword.

“You’re annoying.” The Shichibukai grunted, his right hand shooting toward Drake’s body. The zoan jumped back, his instinct warning him of the danger even if he couldn’t see what kind of attack coming.

Crocodile then grimaced as his head was split in two by one of Luffy’s fist. He turned around, Luffy barely avoiding the golden hook that would have pierced his heart, only cutting through his shirt. It turned out to be a mistake when Drake used this as an opportunity to grab onto him, preventing him from turning into sand, as Luffy used his position low on the ground to kick him in the middle. Crocodile grunted, his right hand once again trying to touch Drake, but this time the zoan didn’t let him deter him. He shifted into his full allosaurus form, his tail surrounding Crocodile, one of his claws catching Crocodile’s hand before he could be touched. He knew that by increasing his size, he was making himself vulnerable to whatever attack Crocodile wanted to do by touching him, but he needed to immobilize him long enough for Luffy to do his damages.

His captain didn’t waste time, sending his arms far behind him and slamming them forward into Crocodile. The impact sent Drake stumbling back, surprised at the strength behind it, and he lost the concentration required to keep his haki on both his tail and claws. Crocodile didn’t hesitate, and despite the pain he was in he instantly shifted into sand.

“You’re pissing me off.” He grunted, a scowl on his face as he saw that the until now forgotten hourglass that had already run its course. “I’ll have to end this now. **Desert Girasole !** ” He shouted, a blade of sand appearing out of his right hand before he stabbed it into the ground.

“Wha-” Started to say Luffy, as the sand under him started to collapse on itself, dragging both him and Drake into the ground, while Crocodile was floating above them, his body half transformed. The Shichibukai started to laugh as he watched them both being dragged into the quicksand, Drake shifting back into his human form in an attempt to slow his descent down.

“Shit !” Swore Luffy, his arm stretching in an attempt to grab onto something above them, Crocodile laughing as one hand passed through his body, watching them both disappear under the sand.

Less than a minute later, the quicksand had transformed back into normal sand, and Crocodile was the only thing moving in the desert.

~~One Piece~~

Drake gulped for breath as his head finally reached air. He had stopped moving as soon as he had transformed back into his human form in an attempt to stop his burial. Shifting back into his allosaurus form once the sand had stopped moving around him had allowed him to move the sand above him, even if his back was still hurting from the weight he had to carry. As he had shifted once again to his human form to start moving up, he had felt something supporting his weight and helping him move. He watched around him, seeing a figure standing a few meters from them just as Luffy got out of the sand next to him and started coughing his lungs out.

“Why did you help us ?” He asked as he recognized Nico Robin. Or at least, he was pretty sure it was Nico Robin. The lack of air was making black spots appear in his vision, and the sun was directly behind her, showing only her slim silhouette and her hat.

“Tell me, Monkey D. Luffy.” She said, ignoring Drake. “What do you know of the will of the D ?”

Luffy blinked at her uncomprehendingly, and she sighed.

“Nevermind.” She said, looking up at the person approaching them on the back of a bananadile.

“You !” Shouted the newcomer, jumping off the back of the bananadile and pointing his sword toward Robin. “What did you do to princess Vivi ?”

“You’re in no state to fight.” Robin noted coldly. “You should take care of them.” She pointed toward the tired Drake and Luffy. “They’re the ones responsible for bringing your princess back into this country.” She informed him, jumping on the back of one of Crocodile’s bananadile.

“Did you really bring princess Vivi back ?” Asked the stranger. Luffy nodded. “Then I must thank you. My name is Pell, I’m one of the head guards.”

“I’m Drake, this is Luffy.” Drake said, pointing toward the ground where Luffy was still resting, too tired to move. “We need to get to Alubarna as fast as possible.” His gaze landed on the piteous looking Luffy. “And find something to eat, as well as a barrel of water if possible.”

“Meat.” Agreed Luffy.

Pell nodded at them. “There is a small town on the road toward Alubarna, we will find what you need there.”

~~One Piece~~

Vivi was scrambling to reach the floor with her feet, Crocodile dangling her above the edge of the palace by her neck. She was trying to grab onto his arm, but as he opened his hand, his arm transformed into sand, preventing her from saving herself from the fall. She could hear his laugh as she fell, her eyes closing to prevent more tears from falling.

She had failed. Crocodile was here, Luffy and Drake dead and buried somewhere in the desert, her people were still fighting, and despite the rest of the StrawHats acting as a distraction to give her this opportunity to save them all she had still failed.

A shout of “Crocodile !” made her open her eyes. She struggled to focus through the tears, but she could see a flying form getting closer.

“Luffy !” She shouted happily as she recognized him and Drake sitting on Pell’s back. Luffy jumped after her, hugging her close with one arm, the other stretching toward Pell, catching Drake’s outstretched hand.

“Luffy.” She sobbed again once she was on Pell’s back. “The palace… A bomb is going to destroy the palace.” She informed them, watching Drake’s eyes widen in shock. “And I can’t stop the fighting…”

“Trust us.” Luffy said confidently as they reached the ground at the same time that the rest of the crew arrived at the bottom of the palace. “This time we’re going to win against him.” With a small tilt of his head, he indicated to Drake to grab onto him. His hands extended and he grabbed onto the edge of the building above them, and he flew both him and Drake toward the rooftop.

“I should have made sure you were dead.” Said Crocodile with a sneer.

“It would take more than a little sand to stop us.” Said Drake tauntingly stepping in front of Luffy for a second.“Neither of us are easy to kill.”

“You made Vivi cry.” Said Luffy, getting out of behind Drake. “I’m going to make you pay for this !” He shouted, jumping toward Crocodile. The Shichibukai barely gave him attention, his eyes keeping track of Drake’s every move, not wanting to get trapped again. It proved to be a mistake when Luffy’s fist smashed into his head instead of passing through it. He grunted under the impact, flying for a few meters before he righted himself.

His eyes narrowed. Strawhat hadn’t been able to hit him the last time, and it has only been hours.

“Water.” He noted. It certainly explained the barrel on his back. Water wasn’t a real problem, but he needed to be careful not to get caught by surprise. Taking out one of the two fighters against him would ensure his victory, and they didn’t seem to be aware of his ability to absorb water. He would only need one touch and those nuisances would no longer be a problem.

Drake stayed behind, watching Luffy fight. He wasn’t planning to get involved until Luffy lost his water and no longer could fight alone. 

A shout of “ **Desert Spada** ” from Crocodile made him jump back as a sand blade destroyed the floor where he was standing just seconds before. His haki sharpened to keep track of Crocodile’s moves as he turned his head to look toward where Robin was standing, a man he could recognize as Nefertari Cobra stuck to the wall by daggers stabbed into his clothes. The sand blades had missed them by a few meters, but Crocodile’s power was far too destructive to risk fighting him next to bystanders.

He moved to put himself between them and Crocodile, ready to call his armament forward as soon as he felt Nico Robin try to attack him, not trusting her to stay out of this fight.

Luffy attacked Crocodile once again, but the Shichibukai avoided the attack, and put his right hand on Luffy’s arm.

“You think water is my weakness ? As if I wouldn’t take steps to protect myself from something this obvious.” He taunted as he started to dry Luffy’s arm.

Luffy cried out in pain, his eyes wide as he looked at his mummified arm. He drank water from his barrels for a few seconds, relieved to see his arm getting back to normal. It still felt strange, like his skin was too tight, and he shivered. He dunked water on it and the feeling disappeared. 

His eyes narrowed. Crocodile might be able to dry the water around him, but he doubted he was able to dry himself, which gave him an idea. If it worked, it would make the fight easier, and if it didn’t, he still had Drake as a backup.

“Try to protect yourself from that !” He shouted, jumping toward Crocodile, his fist cocked back as if he planned to attack him once again. Crocodile thrust his hand toward him, ready to dry him up, and wasn’t expecting him to suddenly rotate his body to avoid the hand and to throw his water barrel.

Crocodile spluttered as he got drenched in water, his slick black hair falling into his face.

“You bast-” He started to say, but a Bazooka from Luffy silenced him and sent him flying further away.

Luffy ran after him, Drake following behind him, not wanting to get too far away just in case.

His attention focused on the fight, Drake was taken by surprise when he felt two hands appear on his shoulder to put him in a chokehold. His reflexes alone prevented him from being choked, his armament haki activating just as they tightened on his throat.

Robin froze, shocked as black appeared on her hands. She tried to move them, but they were stuck crossed against her chest, just as the pair she had made appear on Drake were frozen.

He turned his head to look at her, her hands feeling the powerful muscles of his neck strain against her. “Not a good idea, that.” He informed her.

She struggled to move her arms as to break the connection between them, but couldn’t, and was forced to dismiss her additionals arms by sheer willpower, something she hadn’t done in years. As soon as they disappeared in a flutter of petals, she could move her arms again. She clutched her hidden dagger in her hands and backed toward the king. Drake didn’t move toward her, and as soon as she felt far enough from him to have the time to move if he attacked, she let her dagger go, crossing once again her arms, only this time to make two arms appear on each side of Nefertari Cobra, grabbing the dagger stabbed into his shoulder and removing them to hold them against his throat in a threat not to move.

“I’m not staying here to watch them fight.” She said coldly.

“I won’t let you go to wreak havoc somewhere else.” Countered Drake. “And I’m certainly not letting you get away with the king as a hostage.”

They were distracted from their argument when the floor under them trembled, and they all looked toward where Crocodile and Luffy where trading blows, only to see Crocodile crouching, his right hand flat against the floor, as the ground around him transformed into sand, the vegetation drying up further and further away from him, showing the progress of his attack.

Luffy had to jump over the edge of the building to get far away enough not to get hurt by the attack, one of his sandals having already disappeared, and Drake jumped toward Crocodile, Robin already forgotten, in an attempt to stop his attack before it would force Luffy to dive. from the building. He swung his axe toward him, forcing Crocodile to jump back to avoid it, and a glance assured him that Luffy was still grabbing onto the edge of the building.

He could see that while Crocodile was still partly drenched in water, he had removed his coat and was already drying up thanks to the heat. Luffy’s advantage wouldn’t last long, and when the teenager landed back next to him on the rooftop, he could see that Crocodile had given out as many hits as he had taken, a large gash probably caused by Crocodile’s hook steadily dripping blood onto the ground. While Crocodile had been hurt by Luffy’s blunt force and the damage was internal, the only proof of it the blood staining the corner of his mouth, the Shichibukai was a Grand Line veteran, and they couldn’t afford to underestimate his stamina.

“Luffy. Let me help.” He half-asked, half-ordered, his hands clutching his weapon while he waited for permission from his captain. A backward glance showed that Nico Robin had disappeared while he was distracted, taking Cobra back with her. “I’ll be more useful here than on the sidelines.”

“Let’s go.” Acquiesced Luffy, both of them jumping toward Crocodile at the same time. Crocodile easily parried Drake’s sword with his hook, ducked to avoid Luffy’s leg coming from the side, and tried to touch Drake with his hand as the zoan couldn’t move back without dropping his sword. Drake twisted his body, not able to move properly because of Luffy’s body still at his side, and Crocodile managed to grab onto his leather coat. He snapped his arm back harshly, Drake losing his footing and almost falling on him, which would have freed his hook enough to pierce his heart through his back had Luffy not dragged him back at the last second to avoid what would have been certain death.

“You pathetic rookies think that by using water you’re robbing me of my chances to win, but I don’t need to avoid getting hit to kill you both.” Crocodile taunted, a smirk on his face as he grabbed onto where his hook was linked to the larger round base, twisting it slightly and detaching it. He threw it away, revealing a smaller hook inside. It was silver, with a purple hue when hit directly by the sunlight, and was full of holes.

“With that, I’ll only need one hit to kill you.” Crocodile informed them, moving his left arm to show them purple poison coming out of it. “And you didn’t even manage to keep yourself from being hit when you were alone.” He taunted Luffy, before his gaze stopped on Drake. “Surrounding yourself with arrogant fools who thinks that knowing the basis of haki will be enough to fight me won’t help you survive.”

Crocodile jumped toward them, a blade of sand forming into his right hand. He sent it toward Drake, forcing him to take a step back, attempting to hit Luffy with his hook at the same time. The two Straw Hats evaded his attacks and launched their counterattack.

While Drake couldn’t use his allosaurus form, as it increased his size too much and he didn’t want to make it easier for Crocodile to pierce him with his hook, his hybrid form only had advantages. He wasn’t sure how his scales would interact with poison, but it was still better than naked skin. Despite Crocodile’s taunts, he was confident in his armament haki, but he still knew that if the fight dragged on for too long, or if he was taken by surprise, he could be vulnerable.

Luffy seemed not to care about his own protection, nearing Crocodile without any attempt to shield himself. Not that there was much he could do, but he had started his attack before Drake, not letting the zoan get in between him and Crocodile’s poisonous hook. 

Crocodile avoided the fist by mere centimeters, but couldn’t dodge the knee that lodged itself in his guts. He coughed up blood, bend in half under the strength of the impact, and Drake used this opportunity to grab his back with one hand, his claws piercing his gloves and sinking deep in the Shichibukai’s skin. He used his grip to drag him back until Luffy was out of his hook range, and tried to stab him with his sword. Crocodile however had recuperated enough to grab onto his coming wrist with his right hand as the sword started to cut through his skin, attempting to dry him.

It took Drake half a second to call forward his Haki, and the only thing preventing his arm from being completely dried up in that time was the fact that scales were covering his skin, offering an additional layer that Crocodile had to dry. He shouted in pain as the grip on his wrist tightened, his armament haki barely enough to prevent his arm from being further dried up. He quickly lost strength in his hand, his sword falling uselessly on the ground. 

However this byplay had given enough time for Luffy to prepare his next attack, and Drake still had his grip on Crocodile’s back. The Shichibukai had no way to avoid the multiples fist coming his way, and Luffy’s cry of “ **Gum Gum Gatling !** ” was the last thing he heard before losing consciousness.

The two still standing fighters panted a few seconds, before Drake dropped on his knees next to Crocodile’s unconscious body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you thought of the fights !


	12. Rain bomb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rain and bombs are involved, not necessarily in that order.

“Well, that hurt.” Drake grimaced as he looked at the strange form of his arm. His scales had lost their brilliant green color and had become a dull grey, and they seemed too big on his shriveled up arm. “We need to find water somewhere.”

“What do we do with him ?” Asked Luffy as he looked at Crocodile, unconscious at his feet. “We can’t risk him waking up and we need to go rescue the hostage guy.”

“The King ?” Asked Drake, surprised at the way Luffy had described him. “If we find a pond or something, we can tie Crocodile up and drop him in it, it will prevent him from escaping. Nico Robin probably went into the palace garden, it’s the only place she could have reached without us noticing.” He grabbed his sword from the ground, awkwardly putting it back into the place at his side with the wrong hand. Luffy grabbed the back of Crocodile shirt, and started to drag him on the ground in the direction of the royal garden, Drake trailing after him, cradling his arm close to his chest.

“Finally.” Groaned Drake as he dipped his arm into a small pond of water. Luffy dropped Crocodile next to him. “I have normal handcuffs.” Said Drake, holding them out.

“Why do you have that on you ?” Asked Luffy as he bound Crocodile’s arm behind his back.

“Because I can’t have Sea Stone ones.” Luffy nodded at that as if it made sense.

“Do you know where they went ? Miss Sunday and the King.” He asked.

“All Sunday.” Corrected Drake absentmindedly as he flexed his fingers, glad that they were back to normal. “The huge hole with stairs in the ground seems to be a good place to start searching.”

“What even is this place ?” Asked Luffy, looking around him as they descended the stairs.

“It seems old.” Agreed Drake. “The Nefertari family has been reigning over this country for hundreds of years, who know what kind of secrets they are hiding beneath the palace. Nico Robin is an archeologist, it’s no wonder she’s interested in it.”

“Arche-what ?”

“Archeologist. She is interested in the lives of people that lived a long time ago.” Explained Drake.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, before voices reached them.

“Is this all this country is hiding ?” Asked Robin. Drake and Luffy stopped walking, staying behind a pillar that hid them mostly from view, as Robin rested her hand on a large rock engraved with strange writing.

“Were you looking for something else ?” Asked Drake, as he resumed walking into the middle of the room, Luffy on his heels. Robin kept silent, her posture defensive even if she kept her arms at her side.

Drake started walking around the room, getting between her and the king, looking at the huge stone in the middle. “Is that what the archeologists of Ohara were looking for ?” He knew that they were destroyed because they had gained knowledge that was forbidden by the World Government, and given Robin’s bounty at such a young age, it wasn’t a stretch to think she possessed this knowledge too.

“I’m looking after the Rio Poneglyph.” She revealed after a few seconds. “It’s the Poneglyph that tells the True History of the world, and reveals what happened during the Void Century.”

“Void Century ?” Asked Luffy, that had moved closer to her once he saw that she wasn’t trying to flee.

“A century that started 900 years ago and ended 800 years ago. The World Government had deleted every piece of information about it, but these stones are the only remnant of it. I’m the only one that is able to read them.”

“And what is this one saying ?” Asked Drake.

Robin’s face became stonier. “Only the history of this country.”

Drake could see on the King’s face - and they all had forgotten that he was in the room with them for a moment- that it _definitely_ didn’t tell the history of Alabasta, but whatever it was, if Crocodile had been after it, it couldn’t be anything good.

“What do you want to do ?” Drake asked, turning toward Luffy. “She worked with Crocodile to throw this country into a civil war.”

“So, you beat Crocodile.” She said. “Are you aware of his plan to destroy the palace ?”

“A bomb, right ?” Asked Luffy.

“I’m willing to tell you where it is hidden if you let me go.” She bartered with a sly smile.

“Sure.” Said Luffy after a few seconds. His arm extended and he grabbed her by the shoulder.

“Let’s get you to somewhere safe while we stop the rebellion.” Said Drake, coming to stand behind the now released Cobra.

As they went back outside, they saw a guard standing nonplussed above Crocodile’s still unconscious body.

“King Cobra !” He exclaimed once he saw them.

“Chaka.” Answered the king, a relieved smile on his face. “I was worried about how hurt you were.”

“I’m fine. What are we doing about him ?” He asked, pointing toward Crocodile.

“Do you have seastone cuffs ?” Asked Drake.

Chaka’s face answered for him.

“Crocodile’s weak in the water, and unable to shift into sand. If you don’t have access to seastone, the best way to contain him is to keep him here. The marines will probably have cuffs for him.” He informed them.

“And what about her ?” Chaka asked, looking toward Robin.

“She’s helping us now.” Said Luffy. His arm extended until it looped a few times around Robin’s middle, and with the other he grabbed the side of a building, starting to stretch his arm to Rocket himself toward the middle of the battlefield. “Drake ?”

“Let’s go. I’ll tell you if I can feel where the crew is once we’re closer to the streets, there’s too many people fighting there for me to pick them out.” Drake answered, grabbing onto Luffy with an arm, the other resting on his shoulder next to Robin in case she tried anything.

“You should aim for the clock tower.” Said Robin calmly, not looking too worried about the prospect of being Rocketed toward the street. Her composure didn’t even break when Luffy stopped resisting the pull of his extended arm and with a shout of **Gum Gum Rocket** sent them all flying toward the clock tower.

They landed at the bottom, a grunt of pain following their arrival.

“Luffy !” Exclaimed Nami, watching as the three stood up, a heavily bandaged Usopp having brokered their fall. “What is she doing here ?” She then asked as she saw Robin standing next to them, Drake keeping a grip on her shoulder.

“It’s fine, she’s helping us.” Explained Luffy, Nami turning a worried gaze toward Drake, who only nodded in confirmation.

Vivi frowned, but kept silent.

“Nami-saaan ! Vivi !” Shouted a voice, and they all looked up to see Sanji leaning at a window, a few floors above the ground.

“Sanji-kun !” Shouted back Nami, relieved.

“What are you doing there ?” Asked Usopp.

“Ah, everyone. I’ve been looking for you guys.” Said Zoro before Sanji could answer.

“It’s no good, they can’t get inside the tower from where they are.” Grimaced Vivi.

“Even if they reach the top, they won’t be able to do anything.” Informed them Robin. “The Mr. 7 and Miss Father’s Day pair is up there ready to fire the bomb toward the palace, but there is a timer on it in case they fail to shoot it. Even if you stop them before 16h30, the bomb will explode a minute later.”

“What ?” Shouted everyone on the ground in shock.

“Do you know how to disable it ?” Asked Vivi.

“No I don’t, and I don’t think anyone knows, not even Crocodile. His goal is to destroy this country, so he never planned a failsafe for stopping this.”

“We have less than two minutes before it explodes.” Said Vivi panickedly as she looked at the clock above them.

“We need to get the bomb away from the people fighting.” Said Drake, his brain working overdrive to find a way to save everyone in that timeframe.

“I just need to send it into the desert, right ?” Asked Luffy, his eyes focused on the moving hands.

“What are you planning ?” Asked Nami.

“You need to send it in the desert, far enough that you won’t get hit by the blast.” Answered Drake, tense as he guessed what Luffy wanted to do.

“The bomb is hidden just behind the clock. They plan to open it in the last second before shooting it toward the palace.” Informed them Robin.

“Luffy…” Started to say Usopp, as the captain send his arm, grabbing the edge of the floor where Zoro was standing.

“Gum Gum…” He muttered, as he backed a few steps. “ **Rocket !** ” He shouted, shooting past Sanji, then past Zoro, until he was aligned with the huge clock. He grabbed one of the hands and pulled himself by his arm, crashing into the clock and landing on top of the unsuspecting Mr. 7.

“What ?” Shouted Miss Father’s Day, her frog-shaped gun still pointing toward the ceiling, too shocked to aim toward Luffy.

He looked at the huge bomb in front of him that was easily as tall as him. Miss Father’s Day finally came out of her shock, but didn’t have the time to react before Luffy grabbed her shoulder, his other arm grabbing Mr. 7, and threw them both out of the tower through the clock, creating two new holes in it.

“Okay, let’s get that out of here.” He said to himself, one hand grabbing a handle coming out of the bomb and carefully dragging it out of the cannon until it was resting on his knee, then he let it down gently on the ground. He opened the latch and pushed the clock out of the way, creating an opening big enough for the bomb.

“I need to get enough speed to get away, and fast…” He looked at the ground, where he could see his crew waiting at the bottom of the tower, and the people of Alabasta fighting further away.

“Nami is going to kill me for this.” One hand extended to grab the top of the tower, the other getting a firm grip on the handle of the bomb, and he dragged it just on the edge of the opening, jumping as far away from the tower as he could manage, sending it and himself hurling toward the ground. He could hear the cry of his friend under him, and when he reached the last floor of the clock tower, his arm muscles strained, slowing his fall down. A few meters above the ground, he finally lost all his speed, and got snapped back up. The angle allowed him to get past the tower and instead of only going up, he flew toward the desert.

A glance toward the timer showed that he had less than thirty seconds left before it exploded. The weight started to drag him down, and he waited a few more seconds before dropping the bomb into the desert. He knew that it was far enough from the city to destroy anything, but he still needed to get himself out of the exploding range.

He tried to keep a mental count, but before it could reach zero, the bomb hit the ground and exploded. He was far enough not to get caught in the immediate range, but the force of the explosion blasted him, sending him flying further away from the city.

Drake closed his eyes for a second as the sound of the explosion reached them. Next to him, everyone was watching the sky, waiting for Luffy to reappear. He focused his observation haki, trying to find Luffy’s presence despite it probably being several hundred meters away.

“I can feel someone alive in the desert.” He revealed after a few seconds of intense concentration.

“L-Luffy ?” Asked Chopper.

“I think so.” He answered. “We still need to stop the fighting.” He said, distracting them from the fact that he wasn’t sure that it was really Luffy, even if he didn’t think it was someone else, and focusing them on what they were here to do.

“Nobody stopped.” Said Vivi, looking around desperately.

“We need to get you somewhere visible, so you can try to calm them.” Said Nami, looking around.

“The best way would probably to get on top of a building and get their attention.” Said Zoro as got out of the clock tower.

“Let’s go too, keep Vivi-chan safe in case Baroque’s Work minions are still out to get her.” Said Sanji.

Drake grabbed Robin’s shoulder, making sure that she couldn’t run off. Sanji looked back toward them, ready to protest, but Drake’s glare stopped him.

~~One Piece~~

Chopper inhaled a few times, his nose twitching.

“What is it ?” Asked Usopp as he looked down toward him.

“I think… I think it will start raining soon.”

“What ?” Shouted Vivi, Nami, and Usopp at the same time, the rest watching him in surprise.

At the same time, they reached the top of the stairs and got to the rooftop of one of the buildings circling the main place where everyone was fighting. They all looked up to see grey clouds quickly gathering above them.

“That’s unnatural.” Noted Nami, feeling the lack of wind around them.

“Couldn’t someone have gotten their hand on Dance Powder ?” Asked Sanji, turning toward Robin.

“Crocodile was keeping most of it for himself, but there is a ship carrying Dance Powder around.” She informed them. “He used it to create rain in the sea away from Alabasta to prevent natural rain from forming in the country.”

“Why would someone use it now ?” Asked Vivi, looking up.

The cloud above them finally broke, rain falling down on the battlefield. A strange hush fell over the fighters, all shocked and looking up toward the rain, before cries of joy resonated through the place.

“That’s your chance.” Said Usopp, his eyes wide as the war finally stopped for a few seconds.

“EVERYONE !” Shouted Vivi, her voice clearly heard by all of the people in front of them that turned their head to look at her.

“Please, everyone, stop fighting !” She shouted.

Murmurs of shock as people recognized their missing princess rose through the crowd.

“Both the Royal Army and the Rebel Army have been deceived, so please, stop fighting !”

Before she could continue, a shot ran through the crowd, the bullet cut by Zoro before it could hit Vivi.

“An organization called Baroque’s Work has infiltrated our country.” She informed the crowd as some started to raise their weapon again, most turning toward the rebel that had tried to shoot her. “They are trying to divide us, and have members in both armies to ignite the fight.” She explained.

“Princess Vivi tells the truth.” A new voice rose in the field, everyone turning once again, only to see Khoza standing heavily bandaged, a rebel helping him walk. “I’ve seen with my own eyes the traitors to this country wanting to pit us against each other. Rebel army, drop your weapons, we no longer need to fight.” He said, his voice steady despite the pain he was in.

There was a scuffle in the middle of the place as someone disguised as a Royal Guard rose his weapon toward Khoza, but both the rebels and the guard around him jumped on him, preventing him from shooting Khoza.

“Royal army !” Shouted Chaka as he reached the place, the Kind standing next to him. “Lower your weapons, but be careful of everyone in our rank wanting to reignite this fight.” He ordered.

“There’s no need to fight any longer.” Explained Cobra. “The true perpetrator behind this had already been beaten, and the rain will come back to our country. Let’s stand again peacefully next to each other, and help rebuild what has been destroyed.”

The StrawHats watched with smiles on their faces as the crowd below them calmed down and dropped their weapons, Vivi raising her hands toward her mouths to keep herself from crying too loudly, tears in her eyes.

“Come down.” Offered Sanji, gently guiding her toward the stairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you thought of this chapter !

**Author's Note:**

> English isn't my first language, so please let me know if you see any mistakes or typo.  
> Let me know if you see anything you like too ;)


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